BATB Prospect(s) of The Year -- 2010!

Now for the Prospect of the Year for 2010! If there was one aspect of Beltway Boxing that made solid strides it was among our prospects. A number of prospects made nice strides on their way to possible contendership in 2011. Two of those prospects made the best strides towards a world ranking.

Digital's Choices for Beltway Boxing Prospects of the Year are:

Gary Russell, Jr. (13-0, nine KO's), featherweight, Capitol Heights, MD and Seth Mitchell (20-0-1, 14 KO's), heavyweight, Brandywine, MD.

Russell had an outstanding 2010. Reminiscent of three-time world champion and Beltway legend Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, Russell spent half of the year applying his trade on the west coast where he became a fixture on the Club Nokia shows in Los Angeles. Six of his seven bouts ended in knockouts no later than the second round. The most notable win for the 2008 US Olympian was his first-round stoppage of former world champion Mauricio Pastrana in July.

Heavyweight Mitchell really stepped his game up in 2010 as he went five-for-five -- five wins, five knockouts. Also notable is that all five of Mitchell's victories came against boxers with .500 or better records. Four of Mitchell's five wins came on the west coast against the likes of Johnnie White, Derek Bryant and Taurus Sykes and put him in full view of the bigwigs of his promotional company, Golden Boy Promotions. 2011 could be a very big year for the former Michigan State linebacker, who has moved seamlessly into the eight and 10-round bouts.

Others Deserving Consideration:

Emmanuel Taylor, (10-0, eight KO's) welterweight, Baltimore, MD. One of the busier prospects in 2010, Taylor was 6-0, four KO's and made a nice jump to six-round contests. Taylor's most notable win came against formerly 15-1 Ayi Bruce on May 7 in Huntington, NY. Taylor stopped Bruce in the third round. Three of his wins came against shop-worn veterans Doel Carrasquillo, Chris Cook and Joey Ortega.

Dominic Wade (9-0, seven KO's), middleweight, Largo, MD. The 2009 Beltway Boxing Rookie of the Year fought four times in 2010 against over-.500 competition and knockouts were a little harder to come by. However, Wade did begin his ascent into the six-rounds where the knockouts came back. Wade stopped both his foes in his six-round contests.


Maurice Byarm (10-0, seven KO's), heavyweight, Washington, DC Byarm made solid strides in 2010 with five victories, three by knockout. Two of his wins (against Jason Freeman and Winston Thorpe) were against young undefeated boxers. Started moving into the six-round bout, but two of his bouts were against late substitutions that cut the bouts to four rounds. A very likable prospect who is steadily building a fan base.