AMERICAN heavyweight world title hopeful Jared Anderson suffered a shock first career defeat when he last stepped through the ropes, disrupting plans to challenge for world honours any time soon. Although, with time on his side, it would be harsh to write off the 24-year-old from eventual glory just yet and ‘The Real Big Baby’ is hoping to kick off the new year in style with a fight date and opponent now revealed.
Just months ago, Anderson was deemed as the future of the heavyweight division and his favourable rankings with each of the four sanctioning bodies (#4 WBO, #5 IBF, #6 WBC and #13 WBA) prior to a showdown with Martin Bakole saw the youngster well poised for a title bid during 2025, assuming he could get past the Congolese contender.
However, Bakole was able to spring the upset and derail the plans of Anderson, imposing himself upon the previously undefeated Ohioan from the opening bell onwards and bringing the contest to a close after three knockdowns in a brutal five-round display.
As a result, Bakole’s stock has risen tenfold whilst Anderson’s appears to have plummeted, with eyes now diverting towards 19-year-old Briton Moses Itauma, who now bares the heavy expectations of becoming the potential poster boy of the heavyweight scene in years to come.
Nevertheless, Anderson is setting out to prove that he is the heavyweight for fans in the United States to get behind as he seeks to get back to winning ways on the undercard of Keyshawn Davis’ (12-0) WBO lightweight title bid against Denys Berinchyk (19-0) on February 14th, where he will be hopeful of adding to his 15 career knockouts to date.
Details have emerged that Anderson (17-1) will go toe-to-toe with Greece’s Marios Kollias on the undercard of Madison Square Garden Theater event, with Xander Zayas (20-0) and Slawa Spomer (20-0) set to meet in an intriguing super-welterweight showdown and Irish middleweight Conor Coyle (21-0) expected to take on Vito Mielnicki Jr. (20-1).
Kollias took to the ring twice in 2024, losing a majority decision to 16-fight undefeated Danish heavyweight Kem Ljungquist before a knockout win against Tamaz Izoria extended Kollias’ run of seven knockouts in the seven victories that are separated by defeat to Ljungquist.
