Chris “Prime Time” Colbert is Prospect of the Year
Promising junior lightweight prospect Chris “Prime Time” Colbert (15-0, 6ko) is the 3kingsboxing.com Prospect of the year! When fighters start their careers, the main goal is to win a championship. However, there are a few personal achievements that have significant meaning along the way.
Some of you may disagree with our pick, especially when there are names out there like, Vergil Ortiz Jr, Rashidi “Speedy” Ellis, and Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Edgar Berlanga. But, there are a few things we took into consideration when choosing this pick.
THE QUALITY OF OPPONENTS
Prime Time fought better opposition compared to some of the names mentioned in the previous statement. Colbert ended the year with a tremendous knockout victory over the WBA number four ranked fighter in Jaime Arboleda (16-2, 13ko), with a dominant performance that resulted in an eleventh round knockout in December 2020. Although, it was Colbert’s victory that took place at the beginning of the year in a huge step-up fight against former WBA champion Jezzrel “El Invisible” Corrales (23-4, 9ko) that set all this in motion.
Why is Jezzrel Corrales an important win?
Corrales won his first world championship defeating then-WBA champion Takashi Uchiyama (24-2-1, 20ko) in 2016. Uchiyama initially won the title in 2010 and had a six year reign with eleven successful title defenses. Corrales would move on to defend the title twice, with one defense a rematch victory over Uchiyama. He remains the only man to have ever defeated the Japanese fighter.
Although he eventually lost his title to top Puerto Rican challenger Alberto Machado, skipped 2018 due to inactivity only to return in 2019 with a 1-1 record, he was still a former champion who claimed the title by beating a dominant champion who if were not on many pound-4-pound lists, was on the verge of being there. Floyd Mayweather protégé Ladarius Miller is the first prospect to defeat Corrales after he claimed a title and did so six months before Colbert. However, many in the boxing community felt that fight should have been declared a draw at best given the questionable call by referee Brent Bovell who deducted a point away from Corrales in the final round.
The WBA must have agreed as Corrales is matched up against Colbert in his very next bout for the interim title. In essence, the young fighter from Brooklyn is the first prospect to beat the former champ without controversy.
RISING TO THE OCCASION
In the early portion of the fight, there wasn’t much action. This would change in the middle rounds. Colbert would weather a little storm from the former champion and returned fire with sharp crisp punches landing with ease. He kept the pressure going controlling the fight and dictating the pace landing good hard shots. In the eleventh round, he would land a beautiful left and right hook combination sending Corrales to the canvas.
The former champion would get up. However, Prime Time wasn’t about to let the moment slip away and maintained control of the fight until the final bell sounded. Prime Time’s victory over a quality former world champion followed by a highly ranked opponent is why he is our pick for Prospect of the Year.
By: Garrisson Bland
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