In a recent article posted here at HBO.com, writer Thomas Hauser names five boxers from the past five decades whom he considers to have crossed over to true mainstream superstardom. If Hauser is correct that Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Oscar De La Hoya are the only ones to have achieved this feat in the last 50 years, then clearly this qualifies as a rare phenomenon. Fighters can transcend their sport. But it takes a unique convergence of timing, exposure, personality, marketability and, of course, pugilistic prowess to make it possible.

There are some who would argue that current stars Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have pulled it off, but not to the extent that the five legends listed above did. As Hauser suggested, to get to that level, the two pound-for-pound rivals probably need to fight each other, with the winner taking that next step toward becoming a name everyone in America recognizes.

Maybe Pacquiao or Mayweather will indeed make that leap. But at this point, pretty much every other fighter from their generation can be written off in terms of crossover potential. If we're looking for boxing's next true crossover star, we probably have to look to the next generation, today's prospects and rising contenders who, despite whatever shortcomings they might have, are currently working under the highest of ceilings.

For this article, we've selected five fighters who fit that description. The trending of the last five decades suggests that at most one of them will make it, and quite possibly none of them will. Don't view these selections as bold predictions. Take them for what they are: snapshots of talented young fighters who have an outside shot at becoming boxing's next crossover star if every piece happens to fit perfectly into place.

YURIORKIS GAMBOA

"He's just incredible-very athletic, agile, and ... explosive punching power. Give him three years and he'll be the most dangerous guy on the planet."
-Veteran trainer Joe Goossen

Gamboa, who fights Orlando Salido on HBO September 11, has exactly three things working against him in his pursuit of mainstream superstardom in America: He's already 28 years old, he isn't American, and he hits the canvas regularly enough that you worry one punch could instantly halt his ascension.

So what does he have working for him in his pursuit of mainstream stardom in America? Everything else. The former Cuban Olympian, who defected and turned pro in 2007, is a miracle of athleticism, boasting a combination of speed and power worthy of comparisons to a prime Roy Jones or Mike Tyson. If he doesn't dazzle you with his sheer talent in a given performance, he'll delight you with his vulnerability; through 18 pro fights, he's already been knocked down four times.

Boxing can always use another Arturo Gatti, and while the late "Thunder's" penchant for drama might never quite be duplicated, Gamboa can potentially come close while simultaneously doing something Gatti couldn't: scale the pound-for-pound list. It won't be easy for Gamboa to cross over in America without speaking English. But should he become both boxing's pound-for-pound best and most thrilling fighter at the same time, Gamboa's fists might just speak a language the whole world understands.

DEMETRIUS ANDRADE

"We don't only expect him to become a champion. We don't only expect him to become a multiple champion. We are expecting a superstar."
-Andrade's co-promoter Joe DeGuardia

In between rounds of his six-round decision win in April against the overmatched Geoffrey Spruiell, Andrade caught everyone's attention with his bizarre request to his trainer (who happened to be his father), "Tell me I'm the best!" At age 22 and just 10 fights into his pro career, Andrade is not the best yet. But he does have the best chance among the 2008 U.S. Olympians at one day scaling the pound-for-pound list and becoming a superstar.

Unfortunately, an Olympic pedigree doesn't mean what it once did. Where crossover stars Ali, Leonard, Foreman, and De La Hoya all used the Olympics to help kick start their pro careers, that push isn't very powerful now that Olympic boxing has been relegated to CNBC and MSNBC rather than a major network. It also doesn't help Andrade's cause that he failed to medal, whereas the four fighters in the previous sentence all wore gold around their necks.

But Andrade can blame his defeat in Beijing on the laughable amateur scoring system. He has a style far better suited for the pros, boasting sensational hand speed, good power and ample ring intelligence. And as a 154-pounder, he's in a weight region that could prove rich with huge names (Mayweather, Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, etc.) who will potentially be slipping in a couple of years when Andrade is ready to face them.

If Andrade can put one of those names on his resume, some people will indeed start telling him he's the best. That alone won't make him a crossover superstar, but it would be a great place to start.

"We don't only expect him to become a champion. We don't only expect him to become a multiple champion. We are expecting a superstar." -Andrade's co-promoter Joe DeGuardia

FRANKIE GOMEZ

"I've been watching his career closely for years, and Frankie Gomez is one of the best amateur boxers I've seen in a long time. He's a true blue-chip prospect and he has all the tools to become a world champion and a star in this game."
-Gomez's promoter Oscar De La Hoya

De La Hoya was a star the moment he turned pro thanks to the Olympic gold medal he won in Barcelona. Gomez, an 18-year-old junior welterweight rated by many as the number-one prospect in the entire U.S. amateur system, chose an alternate road to superstardom. In a sign of the times, the latest East L.A. prospect elected not to wait two years to turn pro so he could pursue an Olympic medal that wouldn't mean half as much as it would have two decades ago. So he signed with Golden Boy Promotions and made his pro debut in April.

Gomez is only five fights into his professional career, with five easy knockouts against opposition with a combined record of 18-35-5. He hasn't proven anything yet. But if he wasn't a special talent, Golden Boy and Top Rank wouldn't have gotten into a bidding war for his services. He's an explosive puncher with innate boxing smarts and supreme ring generalship.

And, in case you haven't noticed, the Latino fan base is one of boxing's largest and most passionate. If you become the biggest Latino attraction in American boxing, you probably become the biggest attraction in American boxing. Gomez will have to deal with a lot of "next De La Hoya" pressure in the years to come, but if he can handle that and turns out to be as exceptional in the ring as boxing insiders think he will be, he could leave the generation that follows him searching for the "next Frankie Gomez."

ANDRE WARD

"In a year or so ... when the boxing world is craving another superstar, Andre Ward will be sitting atop the pound-for-pound rankings, looking unbeatable, and people are going to scratch their heads and ask themselves, 'How in the heck did this easy-going, soft-spoken guy get here?'"
-Yahoo Sports boxing writer Kevin Iole

An Olympic gold medalist in 2004-and the only American fighter to win the top amateur prize all decade-Ward has started to emerge as an elite pro in last two years, and with that has come a lot of comparisons with Sugar Ray Leonard. It's a good thing those comparisons only began to emerge recently, because the relative lack of buzz early in Ward's career enabled him to be moved at a deliberate pace. He didn't turn pro with the hype that Leonard did, and he wasn't matched as tough the first few years. That means he still has a long way to go to become a household name-but if you've seen him fight recently, you have to believe he can get there.

The last time Ward lost a fight was 16 years ago, when he was a 10-year-old amateur. His boxing intellect is remarkable. He can fight in a variety of styles. His defense is excellent, as is his punching accuracy. And he has the kind of reflexes you can't teach. In his last two fights, Ward has dominated-not just beaten, but dominated-Mikkel Kessler and Allan Green.

And Ward has a clean-cut, likeable persona. Kevin Iole called him easy-going and soft-spoken. He's not going to turn heads with his mouth the way Ali did, but in the Leonard/De La Hoya mold, he can represent boxing in a controversy-free way that Madison Avenue might want to attach itself to. And if Iole is right that he'll be boxing's pound-for-pound best someday soon, those Ray Leonard comparisons might start to feel less like hyperbole and more like reality.

SETH MITCHELL

"I've seen Seth back fighters away just using the jab. It's beautiful. It hits you like a right hand ... There are a lot of things Seth can still improve on, and he'll be the first to admit it. But he has the jab of a Larry Holmes."
-Mitchell's trainer Andre Hunter

If there's one thing every fan would agree that the American fight scene could use right now, it's a heavyweight to get excited about. Unfortunately, as numerous boxing experts have opined in recent years, the next great American heavyweight is probably on a football field somewhere, a big, tough, athletic kid who might have pursued boxing if he'd been born 20 years earlier, but instead strapped on a helmet and a pair of shoulder pads.

Meet Seth Mitchell. He was that kid who pursued gridiron glory, and he went fairly far, earning All-American status as a linebacker at Michigan State. But then knee injuries ended his football career and, at age 24, he started boxing.

At 18-0-1 (12), Mitchell is undoubtedly a project. But he's a project who looks the part and has charisma, a story, and a fantastic jab. Plus, for a heavyweight, 28 isn't old at all. Mitchell's handlers can take their time with him. And while most of the current top heavyweights are avoiding Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, the Ukrainian brothers might just be on the way out by the time Mitchell is ready to ascend.

From an ability standpoint, "Mayhem" Mitchell is the biggest long shot on this list. But from a situational standpoint, if a former All-American football player should somehow become heavyweight champion in a few years, he'll instantly become one of the most visible athletes in the world.