Abass Baraou's Top Five Next Potential Opponents

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What is next for Abass Baraou?

Baraou (18-2, 9 KOs) defeated Giovani Santillan (35-2, 18 KOs) by majority decision on Friday night at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

Baraou, a former beltholder who lost his title to Xander Zayas, rebounded from his January loss to put himself back into contention.

So who could be next?

Bakhram Murtazaliev

A former champ, he just needs a suitable promoter to pick up the fight. Murtazaliev stopped Tim Tszyu, then had to wait, and wait, and wait some more. He lost a close decision to Josh Kelly, which cost him his biggest leverage: a belt. If a network or promoter were invested in making this bout, it could create an interesting contender in a risky but fun matchup.

Israil Madrimov

Madrimov has fought only once since facing Vergil Ortiz. Once touted as a force at junior middleweight, he has been plagued by inactivity after two big fights with Terence Crawford and Ortiz. He fought in January, going 10 rounds in a catchweight bout against Luis David Salazar. He is out of sight and out of mind and needs this type of back-to-back to reenter the conversation.

Uisma Lima

It doesn’t benefit Baraou that much, but from a fan’s perspective, I am still curious how good Lima is. Jaron “Boots” Ennis stopped Lima in one round nearly a year ago. So, you make a fight where Lima is matched up against a true top-10 fighter. If Baraou blows him out, we know; if he doesn’t, “Hey, that Boots guy is pretty good.”

Kevin Anton

Anton is one of the most promising fighters to come out of ProBox TV. Mirroring the size of Sebastian Fundora, the massive junior middleweight has passed every test asked of him. If he could land a fight with Baraou, it would be a prospect-to-contender bout that could open the door for him to enter the main event fray.

Charles Conwell

Conwell has been out of sight, out of mind for too long. His win over Paul Kroll was impressive, but he needs to build on it. Baraou and Conwell is a TV-quality fight that should excite anyone, despite both fighters’ laid-back personalities.