2023 Could Be a Breakout Year for Charles Conwell
There is no doubt that super welterweight fighter Charles “Bad News” Conwell (17-0, 14 KO’s) is creeping on a come up. The hard-nosed body-snatcher has largely been flying under the mainstream radar. Nevertheless, Bad News has been diligently carving a place for himself in the division by mangling his opposition in brutally scientific fashion.
Yet, if being truthful, under closer inspection there is not much to write home about on his resume. His three best wins on paper: Juan Carlos Rubio, Madiyar Ashkeyev and Wendy Toussaint. While all undefeated, they had feasted on lower opposition themselves. Nevertheless, these fights have granted him greater experience and allowed Conwell to develop further as a complete fighter.
Clearly though, the sanctioning bodies have taken notice and approved him based on the eyeball test. At the present moment, Conwell is ranked #4 (IBF), #4 (WBC), #9 (WBO) and #13 (WBA). With these standings, Bad News is in an excellent position to strike at a world title in the very near future.
TEAM COLLABORATION
Really it should come as no surprise that Conwell has quietly acquired his position in the division. Bad News has been dominant since his days as an amateur. He is a two-time USA Boxing Youth Champion, 2015 National Golden Gloves Champion and 2016 Olympian. Bad News would turn pro in 2017 and sign with DiBella Entertainment (DBE), later he entered into a co-promotional deal with DBE and Probellum. Being armed with his rankings and these influential companies’ just serves to further the probability that Conwell will get a shot at a world title sooner than later.
His DBE fight-pushers house former unified champion George Kamobosos, unified super lightweight champion Kali Reis, and two-division champion Hanna Gabriels within their stable. Probellum has five champions: Paul Butler (WBO bantamweight), Sunny Edwards (IBF flyweight), Eimantas Stanionis (WBA welterweight), Dina Thorslund (WBO bantamweight) and the aforementioned Hanna Gabriels. Said to say, these companies have served plenty of their fighters well.
WHO’S NEXT?
Obviously, there are a ton of directions that Team Conwell could move in. Yet, for example, the WBC seems to be a one-stop shop. There he has potential fights with #5 Erickson Lubin and #1 Tony Harrison. Lubin is coming off a heartbreaking loss to Sebastian Fundora and may be ripe for the plucking. Either way, Lubin is an excellent boxer, with pop in both hands and is largely recognized. Even with his two losses, a win over Lubin would make for a significant scalp.
Yet, because he is coming off a loss, Lubin may not want to jump in the deep waters in his first fight back. So there is also Tony Harrison who is itching to get back in the ring but doesn’t have an opponent. This could potentially be a win-win for all parties involved; at least going into the squared-circle! Harrison was recently complaining about his difficulties in finding his next professional adversary. Given the fact that he is a one-time world champion combined with his name value in the sport, it’s unlikely that Conwell would reject this match. In Conwell, Harrison gets a tough, highly ranked fighter to battle.
While these are mere hypotheticals, it’s still easy to envision Bad News getting some good news regarding a shot at a title very soon. Conwell will likely have to fight at least one of the division’s elite before getting his shot at glory. So with so much of importance on the line, it will be very interesting to see who Conwell fights next. Stay tuned!
By: Bakari Simpson
