Perhaps more so than any other sport, professional boxing has a long history of underdog stories. This includes everything from Buster Douglas’ epic 10th-round knockout of Mike Tyson to Leon Spinks’ now legendary victory over Muhammad Ali.
In many ways boxing is the perfect ‘underdog’ sport, with promoters and fight organisers always trying to arrange compelling matchups that could result in an unexpected outcome.
For boxing fans in particular, this aspect of boxing makes it a particularly compelling sport to wager on, with British boxing fans always trying to scope out those unpredictable outcomes that could land them big payouts. But these underdog matches don’t just make for great sports betting opportunities – they also make for great watching!
Out of the many talented professional boxers on the British circuit, though, who are the underdogs to watch?
Pierce O’Leary
Pierce O’Leary is a young Irish fighter who has had a massive impact on the British boxing circuit in recent months.
Nicknamed the ‘Big Bang’, O’Leary went into 2022 as a relatively unknown entity for many British boxing fans. This had all changed by the end of the year, however, when a majestic win over the Namibian fighter Emmanuel Mungandjela earned him the WBC International super lightweight belt.
This was O’Leary’s first bit of silverware – and he won it in the first 10-round fight of his career. With this in mind, it is hardly surprising that many underrated him going into the fight, putting him in definite underdog position.
Fortunately for O’Leary, however, this underdog proved that he had a good bite. After a hard-fought victory against a veteran of the game in Mungandjela – who has well over a decade of pro experience behind him – O’Leary clinched the victory.
Despite not getting the stoppage he wanted, O’Leary is looking like an incredibly bright prospect. And with the momentum slowly building, it doesn’t look like he will be an underdog for too much longer!
Nick Ball
Although his name barely registered with many British boxing fans before last year, after a string of explosive victories in 2022 and 2023, there are few who aren’t at least aware of the incredibly exciting Liverpudlian Nick Ball.
Going into 2022, Ball was a talented fighter who had yet to make a statement on the big stage. And for this reason, not only was he still relatively unknown to most British boxing fans but was also severely underrated by those who were aware of him.
This all changed in 2022, however, with the 25-year-old Liverpudlian producing three epic stoppages that caused British boxing to add some respect to his name.
These three epic wins included an absolute demolition of Isaac Lowe on the undercard of the Fury vs Whyte fight in April, a 12th-round knockout of Nathanael Kakololo in July, and a stunning, first-round stoppage of Jesus Ramirez Rubio in November.
This means that in a little under six months, Ball managed to secure three stunning knockouts that would force British boxing to take note.
Dennis McCann
Despite his young age, the 21-year-old Dennis McCann has already proved himself to be an exciting fighter capable of going on to great things in his career.
The charismatic 21-year-old who goes by his nickname ‘The Menace’ has a magnetic personality that is truly a promoter’s dream. He has combined this with a number of high-profile wins that have raised his profile on the British and international boxing circuits.
One of these spectacular wins came against Joe Ham, who is a veteran in the sport with plenty of experience and an impressive resume. Despite many counting the up-and-coming ‘Menace’ out against him, McCann would go on to handily dismantle Ham. He eventually won the fight with a stoppage in the eighth round, which immediately caught the attention of the boxing world.
This was a classic underdog victory by a talented but as yet untested fighter. And for this reason, Dennis McCann is one of the British underdogs to watch going into the rest of 2023 and beyond!
Lewis van Poetsch
Although he has technically just retired within the last few weeks, given his status as one of the greatest – if not the greatest – journeyman boxers on the British circuit, we would be negligent not to included him in this list.
In his 10-year career as a professional boxer, which saw him rack up 170 fights, Lewis van Poetsch was one of the most familiar sights on the British boxing scene.
Known by his nickname ‘Poochi’, Lewis van Poetsch spent a decade covering the length and breadth of the country, fighting in every kind of venue you could imagine. And even more impressively, he did this in addition to his day job as a HGV lorry driver.
Although he never managed to rack up too many wins, he could never be written off going into a fight. And as the go-to fighter to test up and coming talent, Poochi was in many respects the ultimate underdog!
