BRITISH boxing has never been in a better vein of pulling power thanks to the super-funding coming in from Saudi Arabia.
But with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua cashing in and racing toward 40, who are the new generation of unknowns fighting hard and fast to make it to the promised lands of Riyadh and Wembley?
GettyTyson Fury suffered his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk at the weekend and could soon hang up his gloves[/caption]
GettyAnthony Joshua is also likely coming to the end of his boxing career[/caption]
With more and more British boxing heading behind the paywall of the DAZN app – and the main broadcasters spending their time and budget elsewhere – it has never been more difficult for the next AJ or Gypsy King to build their name or fanbase.
If you don’t have an Olympic medal, like Audley Harrison, Amir Khan, James DeGale or Lauren Price – or have the backing of a football club and city like Manchester and Leeds icons Ricky Hatton and Josh Warrington, the early rounds of the hurt business can be brutal.
But SunSport reckons we’ve unearthed half-a-dozen rough diamonds who will shine bright in 2025.
And, most importantly for their health and success and that of the sport, they will be deserving of your attention and ticket money.
Moses Itauma – 19 – heavyweight
The most obvious pick of the bunch but – at still a ridiculously young age – the Chatham wonderkid deserves top billing.
SunSport was in the Ropes and Glory amateur gym for Itauma’s 18th birthday – and training session – last December 28.
GettyMoses Itauma has been dubbed Britain’s Mike Tyson[/caption]
GettyItauma managed a first round knockout against Demsey McKean at the weekend[/caption]
And his stunning rise to Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s chief support – in the space of just 12 transformative months – has been super.
Manager Francis Warren and his promoter dad Frank have supported and guided the southpaw perfectly.
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But his freakish natural talent, laser-focused attitude, baffling maturity and even his ready-made media skills are what has got him so close to the top already.
Barring injury or a catastrophic upset, it seems certain that Itauma will be a bonafide world champion before the end of 2026.
He might not beat Mike Tyson’s record time of landing one in 20 years, four months and 22 days.
But he seems to have the talent and – perhaps even more importantly the unshakable mindset- to have a longer and more sustained reign.
The wonderkid was red-hot property way before his one-round demolition of 6ft 6in Aussie tough man Demsey McKean.
But after smashing his biggest test way back Down Under, he is even closer to a world title than even his biggest fans could have imagined.
Cindy Ngamba – 26 – middleweight
The 2024 Paris Olympics was such a dismal time for amateur boxing following the controversy over the gender of two fighters competing in the female code.
It was painfully slim pickings for Team GB too, whose only medal was the bronze Colchester’s classy Lewis Richardson claimed.
PACindy Ngamba made her debut at the Olympics this summer[/caption]
But our team up in Sheffield deserves credit for one more magnificent medal and an even better story.
Bolton-based Ngamba came to England from Cameroon aged just 11 and, after her immigration paperwork was lost, she was given refugee status and even detained at the immigration office one sad day.
Tragically, due to the ongoing lack of a British passport, Ngamba could not represent Great Britain at the Games.
But she did manage to win the first ever medal – an iconic bronze – for the newly formed Refugee Olympic Team.
Promoters should be fighting each other to sign the wonderful woman, with the amateur pedigree and the inspirational story. Ngamba truly is the full package.
Lewis Williams – 26 – heavyweight
The Leamington Spa giant lit up Birmingham’s 2022 Commonwealth Games by coasting to a gold medal.
It was even more poignant because dad Bob had to force his way out of hospital to race to ringside and watch all their shared dreams come true.
Lewis Williams won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2022Getty
The 6ft 7in talent was nailed on for a life-changing Olympics spot but when his dad’s health plummeted, Williams’ form went with it and he chose hospice stays over training and tournaments and his Paris dream and dad eventually faded away.
Thankfully trainer and manager Edwin Cleary is ferociously invested in his fighters and whipped Williams back into shape and got him a pro deal with Frank Warren, who can guide an English heavyweight like nobody’s business.
On his November debut he grabbed everybody’s attention when he finished a tough journeyman with intelligent spite.
And he will return in February to help Itauma and Daniel Dubois keep the juggernaut of young British heavyweights booming on.
Lucas Roehig – 21 – cruiserweight
Trust George Groves to gift his promising protege one of the most testing pro debuts a young kid could ever have nightmares about.
Most paid bows – especially one is as modest a venue as the Harrow leisure centre and untelevised – come against veteran journeymen who never win and are just a clever foil to test and teach the hotshot over the scheduled distance.
RexLucas Roehrig is considered a huge prospect[/caption]
But Groves – a product of the excellent Dale Youth gym and criminally underrated trainer Mick Delaney – is not one for following trends.
Roehig was slung in with dangerous and proud Pompey puncher Joel McIntyre, a former English champion.
And Roehig cut, flogged and finished the warhorse in just three rounds.
Groves – who won his super-middleweight title at the fourth time of asking – was always a maverick in British boxing’s too predictable business.
And it looks like he is passing that baton on as Roehig has set a very high early pace and fans will enjoy trying to keep up.
Leighton Birchall – 18 – bantamweight
In February the Morecambe sensation and equally exciting Adam Maca put on the sort of 57kg show that amateur British boxing buffs dream of.
The pair of pocket rockets put on a clinic of freakish talent with Maca winning a razor-close split decision.
Photo credit Stockbridge ABC.Leighton Birchall is rapidly becoming more and more popular[/caption]
But because Birchall has ditched the vest and headguard and raced into the paid ranks ahead of his rival, he lands on this list first, with Maca certain to follow.
A Haringey Box Cup double winner, a multi-time national champion and GB youth representative, Birchall ran out of things to win in the amateurs.
One of three professional fighting brothers, Birchall can talk as well as he can fight and his style will tantalise fans and tease opponents.
And he is already using Generation Z’s many social media platforms to increase the speed of his rising reputation and call out his domestic rivals.
Jermaine Dhliwayo – 22 – super-featherweight
You are probably not a real British boxing fan if you have not watched Derek Chisora in awe over the years and recently hoped he would settle down into a hard-earned retirement.
Thankfully this Northampton-born southpaw could help guide us into that sweet spot.
Instagram @jermaine.dhliwayoJermaine Dhliwayo has a big fan in Derek Chisora[/caption]
Veteran brawler Del Boy is Dhliwayo’s uncle and mentor.
The pair are so close that the second-generation fighter lives in his uncle’s old bedroom – being watched over by his aunty and Chisora’s mum Violet – and he has not even changed the decor or ditched all the old boxing posters.
Dhliwayo is a trained electrician who still works – properly – around his boxing and he is being well managed to learn on the job.
In the space of just five months he has got to 4-0 with understated bouts at the O2, in Finland, at York Hall and in Gibraltar.
When Chisora finally hangs up his battered old mitts, he will be a serious miss.
But Dhliwayo looks like being his parting gift to UK fight fans – even though he never owed us anything after so many brutal nights.