Jared Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs) returns to the ring this Saturday evening, April thirteenth, in a ten-round headliner on ESPN towards former cruiserweight Ryad Merhy. That is one other constructing battle for the troubled 24-year-old prospect/contender on the American Financial institution Middle in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The primary card begins at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and ESPN.
The Gem on Saturday’s card: Abdullah Mason
Abdullah Mason, arguably essentially the most gifted fighter on the complete card, will battle Ronal Ron in an eight-round light-weight battle on the preliminary portion of the cardboard.
The prelim card begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Abdullah Mason (12-0, 10 KOs) is the one High Rank ought to have in the principle occasion, not Jared Anderson. He has actual expertise and is displaying the power to at some point grow to be a world champion.
Full card for Saturday
Jared Anderson vs. Ryad Merhy
Ruben Villa vs. Christian Cruz
Efa Ajagba vs. Guido Vianello
Charley Suarez vs. Luis Coria
Abdullah Mason vs. Ronal Ron
Jonlan Walker vs. Alejandro Guerrero
Robson Conceicao vs. Jose Ivan Guardado
John Cincon vs. Yainel Alvarez Telemaco
Ali Felix vs. Anthony Woods on III
Julian Delgado vs. Juan C. Tamez
Merhy: Heavyweight Taste of the Month
Regardless of the shiny report, Merhy (32-2, 26 KOs) is one other protected take a look at for Anderson. The 32-year-old Merhy has solely fought thrice since transferring as much as heavyweight and was soundly crushed by Kevin Lerena in a one-sided 10-round determination loss final 12 months.
That battle exhibits you what Merhy is all about. He’s one other tomato can being introduced in for Anderson to knock over and look nice, however with out telling followers something about whether or not he’ll pan out certainly one of today if he can keep out of jail.
Anderson’s promoter, Bob Arum of High Ranks, needs to have him battle for a heavyweight world title in 2026. It’s believed that Arum is ready for champion Tyson Fury to retire and Anthony Joshua to grow old.
AJ can also be believed to be near retirement, so there’s a chance that Anderson can slide on in and battle a lesser fighter for one of many vacant belts. It’s questionable whether or not Anderson may even beat somebody like Daniel Dubois or Filip Hrgovic if a type of guys is his opponent in 2026.
“He has an enormous take a look at towards this Belgian fighter that has a fantastic resume, Merhy. I consider that given the remainder of the 12 months, and subsequent 12 months, that by 2026 Jared might be combating for the heavyweight championship of the world and be the subsequent nice heavyweight,” mentioned High Rank promoter Bob Arum to BoxNation about Jared Anderson.
The Struggles are Actual
Andersons’ promoters at High Rank nonetheless aren’t prepared to maneuver him up towards top-tier heavyweight contenders after watching him battle final 12 months towards former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin.
The best way that 37-year-old southpaw Martin took benefit of Anderson’s Shakur-esque combating type by chasing him down when he used his pull-back transfer was an eye-opener, displaying that he’s not almost able to battle high quality opposition.
That was seemingly the explanation High Rank selected to match Anderson towards 40-year-old Andriy Rudenko final August, a battle that he received by a fifth-round knockout however one which didn’t assist him develop in any possible way.
Time to Wake Up, High Rank
You possibly can ignore Anderson’s 16-0 report as a result of all of his wins have come towards second—and third-tier opposition throughout his five-year profession. He’s not confronted anybody who can inform if High Rank has spent its cash proper by making an attempt to develop this man.
Anderson is an experiment with High Rank, and it stays to be seen if it really works out for them or in the event that they find yourself with one other Edgar Berlanga of their arms.
We noticed how High Rank matched Berlanga towards 16 consecutive third-tier tomato cans within the first 4 years of his profession. After they moved him as much as second-tier fodder-level fighters, he started to battle badly. Shortly after that, Berlanga left High Rank, and he’s now Eddie Hearn’s drawback.
Jared Anderson’s state of affairs seems to be very related. High Rank might have a ineffective albatross on its arms, and it should resolve quickly whether or not to maintain him or lower him free.
