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One of the most exciting parts of following boxing is watching a fighter develop from a raw, unheralded prospect into a star attraction.
In 2024, we saw Daniel Dubois take that leap from a well-known contender in the boxing sphere to virtually a household name in the U.K. after he dropped Anthony Joshua four times en route to a spectacular knockout at Wembley Stadium to successfully defend his IBF world heavyweight title.
On a smaller niche scale, Bakhram Murtazaliev was only recognized by diehard fans until his demolition job of Australia’s Tim Tszyu in October to defend his IBF super welterweight championship stateside, after which he received much more exposure from the wider boxing community.
Winning a world title can be the catalyst for a boxer to break out, as it allows them to face the top names in their division in high-profile bouts. So let’s take a look at five boxers who could break out in 2025.
Among this list are three pugilists who are likely to win a world title in 2025, one who is already a world champion, and a fighter whose breakthrough moment could even come through a loss.
Keyshawn Davis
Keyshawn Davis’ shot at WBO lightweight champion Denys Berinchyk is all but announced for Feb. 14 at Madison Square Garden’s The Theatre in New York.
Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) impressed in front of a raucous home crowd in November when he stopped Gustavo Lemos in just two rounds. To illustrate how dazzling Davis’ feat was, just seven months prior Lemos had extended Richardson Hitchins — now the IBF super lightweight champion — across 12 ultra-competitive rounds, which ended with Hitchins eking out a razor-thin decision win.
A 2020 Olympic silver medallist, Davis’ talent has always been apparent, but a first world title win at the world’s most famous arena would elevate the American to stardom.
Lightweight has historically been one of the most prominent divisions in boxing, and this current era is no exception. A win for Davis could set up a massive pay-per-view fight with his namesake rival, Gervonta “Tank” Davis, who he already called out after his destruction of Lemos.
Davis vs. Davis in a battle of undefeated lightweight world champions is something we can all get behind.
Hamzah Sheeraz
Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs) gets his first crack at world title honors when he challenges WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames on the blockbuster Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Britain’s Sheeraz enjoyed a tremendous 2024 campaign, which began with his opening-round knockout of multi-time title challenger Liam Williams. Sheeraz then battled back from adversity to stop Austin Williams in the 11th round of a seemingly 50-50 matchup of top middleweight contenders, before closing out the year with a second-round stoppage of Tyler Denny.
The 25-year-old Londoner’s profile has risen significantly on Riyadh Season cards, and 2025 should be the year when he becomes a major attraction. Sheeraz will likely fight two more times this year after his bout against Adames, which means he theoretically could finish 2025 as the undisputed middleweight champion.
Turki Alalshikh’s backing, which Sheeraz certainly has, will go a long way in making immediate unification fights realistic should Sheeraz win on Feb. 22. Sheeraz is talented enough to win the WBC championship against Adames, and he matches up well against the WBA champion Erislandy Lara, a veteran Cuban fighter.
Janibek Alimkhanuly is his biggest obstacle at 160 pounds, but Sheeraz’s chances are strong there as well. 2025 is destined to be a massive year for him.
Diego Pacheco
Back in 2018, California native Diego Pacheco (22-0, 18 KOs) was too young to turn professional in the U.S., so he opted to switch to the paid ranks in Mexico. By 2022, the super middleweight contender had already built up a 17-0 record and picked up his first trinket championship.
But his first real breakthrough came in March 2023 when Liam Paro and Callum Smith were forced to withdraw from their fights on the same card, leaving Pacheco to headline the bill in Liverpool. Pacheco impressed with a fourth-round finish of popular British veteran Jack Cullen, a win that elevated the youngster to full-fledged main-event status and earned him a top-three ranking with the WBO.
Pacheco has won four more fights since, progressing gradually to a No. 1 contender spot with the WBO for unified champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He is scheduled to return on Jan. 25 against Terence Crawford’s stablemate Steve Nelson. There are some big fights out there at 168 pounds for Pacheco, including Caleb Plant and Edgar Berlanga — the latter of whom is with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom alongside Pacheco — but the golden ticket in the division, and all of boxing, is a shot at Alvarez.
As the No. 1 contender for one of the governing bodies, Pacheco is a viable option for WBA, WBC and WBO champion “Canelo” in 2025. He is 23 years old, the same age Alvarez was when he fought Floyd Mayweather in 2013. Although Alvarez didn’t beat Mayweather, he eventually replaced Mayweather as the sport’s bona fide top attraction. If Pacheco can land a date with “Canelo” and produce a commendable performance, if not win, it could be a true breakout moment for him even in defeat.
Richardson Hitchins
Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) put on a masterclass to convincingly outbox Liam Paro and dethrone him of his IBF super lightweight title in December in Puerto Rico. The Brooklyn-based champion is known for his tremendous pure boxing ability, centered around accurate single jabs and straight right hands.
Hitchins has struggled in the past to get the bigger names in the division to face him, but now that he holds a belt, it should be a lot easier of a task. Former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos has already engaged in a war of words with Hitchins on social media since Hitchins’ win.
Hitchins called out Teofimo Lopez for a WBO/IBF unification clash after his victory over Paro, and although Lopez is focused on potentially making a bout with Subriel Matias, a Lopez vs. Hitchins matchup could materialize later in 2025. Hitchins has the exact type of style that has proven to cause problems for Lopez in past bouts against the likes of Jamaine Ortiz and Sandor Martin.
With a New York homecoming, unification fights and a Kambosos clash all in play, 2025 will be a pivotal year for Hitchins.
Eduardo Nunez
Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez (27-1, 27 KOs) is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport — for the small amount of people who have watched him fight.
Even most boxing diehards didn’t know who the super featherweight contender was until he started fighting on Mexican cards streamed on DAZN. He was 24-1 with 24 knockouts up to that point, but there wasn’t one recognizable name on his résumé.
Then Nunez produced a legitimate Knockout of the Year contender against Jesus Martin Ceyca and followed it up with an impressive early stoppage win over Oscar Escandon.
Those performances showed that Nunez wasn’t just your average pressure fighter who could punch, but he also had a very astute boxing brain.
Nunez’s big opportunity came in Tajikistan in a very tough ask against Shavkat Rakhimov for an IBF final eliminator in March 2024. It was a thrilling Fight of the Year contender that ended with a late stoppage win for Nunez, but again, hardly anybody saw the fight. It’s not even on Boxrec because it was on an IBA-sanctioned show, an entity which Boxrec refuses to recognize as professional boxing.
Nunez finally made his U.S. debut in his most recent bout in August, forcing the corner of veteran gatekeeper Miguel Marriaga to stop the fight after the sixth round. Nunez is now the mandatory challenger for IBF champion Anthony Cacace, but it’s unclear what’s going on there. There are whispers of the fight happening in the spring, but a more likely option is Cacace vs. Leigh Wood next instead.
Still, 2025 should be the breakout year for Nunez if he can get his hands on the IBF super featherweight title and make a high-profile defense stateside.
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