Twenty-Five Favorites for the Future, Part II

Twenty-Five Favorites for the Future, Part II
Mark E. Ortega
Queensberry-Rules.com
January 5, 2012

(Continued from part I.)

Joe Hanks, heavyweight, 28, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A. [18-0, 12 KOs] 
Though not as well known as American heavyweights of the future Seth Mitchell and Deontay Wilder, Hanks has quietly put together a respectable career in four years as an American heavyweight hopeful. Hanks scored an improbable one-sided win over then-unbeaten Golden Boy prospect Ashanti Jordan a few years ago and has stayed the course, though not with much fanfare. Hanks has yet to fight on television despite being one of the better kept secrets in American heavyweight boxing. With Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing backing him, Hanks should at least be able to break the barrier and make it on television moving forward. Despite being from the East Coast, Hanks established himself in the banquet halls and small houses in Southern California, fighting twelve times in all there. At one point, this writer recalls then-manager Prentiss Byrd offering to pay for Hanks’ spot on cards, yet he still had problems finding him fights. At 6’4” Hanks has good size and has good power that he has learned to utilize better recently; he’s scored six stoppages in eight fights since the opening of 2010. In a particularly shallow time in U.S. heavyweight boxing, Hanks is near the top of the class.

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