Heavyweight contender Jared Anderson (17-1, 15 KOs) in 15 days against Marios Kollias (12-3-1, 19 KOs) in a 10-rounder on February 14th on the undercard of Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis at Madison Square Garcia in New York. The event will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN+.
Martin Bakole spoiled Top Rank’s big plans for the 25-year-old Anderson by destroying him in five rounds last summer on Turki Al-Sheikh’s card on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Chin Concerns
Top Rank had been grooming Jared with the same match-making they’d done for Edgar Berlanga and Keyshawn, pitting him against soft opponents to build him up to be a dwarf star. Not a real star, but a smaller one that must be protected from the legit ones. Bakole temporarily ruined things with his knockout win.
Despite being dropped three times, Anderson didn’t look half bad. He’s fun to watch, and you can tell he’s got the skills to be a world champion. The chin, though. That’s the limiting factor.
Anderson landed well when he wasn’t getting put in the dirt and looked like a better fighter than Bakole. If his chin had held up, he might have won a decision. Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle the power of Bakole and was crushed in the fifth, going down twice before the referee waved it off.
Anderson is ranked #9 WBO and #15 IBF. If he can focus on his defense, he might be able to do something with his career, but he can protect his fragile chin. He can’t take a punch for anything, which won’t change. A fighter with a weak chin at 25 won’t get better as they age.
Kollias Test
Top Rank is trying to rebuild the Toledo, Ohio native Anderson by matching him against the little-known Greek native Kollias. It’s unclear how many rebuilding fights Top Rank will put Jared in before deciding whether to keep or cut him loose. It doesn’t look good for him. If he looks terrible against Kollias, I’d be surprised if Anderson is still with Top Rank a year from now.
Before Anderson lost to Martin Bakole, the warning signs were already there. He’d been hurt in his fights against Charles Martin and Jerry Forrest. Both heavyweights possessed power, but it was a bad sign that Jared struggled at this level early in his career.
Anderson didn’t have a tremendous amateur career to gain experience before turning pro in 2019. As an amateur, Jared was 21-5, which isn’t the record indicating a future champion.
On February 14th, junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas will face Slawa Spomer on the same card. Zayas is another fighter for whom Top Rank hopes for big things. However, he can’t punch and has been hurt fighting lesser opposition, so he will have problems in this career.
Bringing his heavy hands to the Empire City 🏙️@TeamBigBabyy | https://t.co/6LRCJwUCku pic.twitter.com/xP8Yre8FsB
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) January 27, 2025
