JARED ANDERSON will face the toughest test of his career to date when he takes on Martin Bakole on August 3.
The 24-year-old undefeated heavyweight was linked with a fight with former WBC champion Deontay Wilder at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles but that was ruled out after Zhilei Zhang stopped ‘The Bronze Bomber’ in the second round five last Saturday.
Zhang’s victory contributed to Queensberry’s emphatic 10-0 win over Matchroom in Riyadh in the inaugural 5-on-5 event in another successful night for Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Department of Entertainment. Alalshikh has now assembled various promoters for his first venture into the American boxing market on August 3, where former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford challenges Israil Madrimov to fight for the WBA super welterweight title.
Anderson, 17-0 (15 KOs), promoted by Top Rank, faces Congolese-Scottish heavyweight Martin Bakole, 20-1 (15 KOs), whose career is in need of a big fight on the a big stage. The 31-year-old is considered one of the division’s dark horses and has weighed between 275 and 299 lbs in his last three fights, which have included wins over Carlos Takam and Tony Yoka, respectively.
There will likely be a significant weight differential come fight night with Anderson weighing 243, 239 and 251 lbs in his last three wins over Charles Martin, Andrii Rudenko and Ryad Merhy respectively. The Ohio native is considered a future world champion and is ranked in the top five by the WBC, WBO and IBF while Bakole is currently the WBA number one contender.
Along with Crawford-Madrimov and Anderson-Bakole, the August 3rd card is stacked top to bottom in terms of talent. Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr rematches Jarrell Miller, newly crowned WBA super lightweight Isaac Cruz defends his belt against Jose Valenzuela while Cubans David Morrell (light-heavyweight) and Andy Cruz (lightweight) faces Radivoje Kalajdzic and Antonio Moran, respectively. A super fight between Vergsl Ortiz Jr Tim Tszyu was recently postponed after it was revealed that the cuts Tszyu suffered in his loss to Sebastian Fundora had not yet fully healed. It remains to be seen whether Ortiz Jr. will still appear on the bill.
