Jared Anderson and Keyshawn Davis have been added to the April 8th card on ESPN at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. This information was previously revealed over a week ago, but Top Rank made it official today. The card will be shown on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+. The start time is 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
In the main event, lightweight contender Shakur Stevenson fights Shuichiro Yoshino in a 12 round bout.
The unbeaten lightweight fringe contender Keyshawn Davis (7-0, 5 KOs) will face replacement opponent Anthony Yigit after previously being scheduled to fight Ryan Garcia’s former victim Emmanuel Tagoe.
Sweden-born Yigit (26-2-1, 10 KOs) has wins over Sandor Martin and Joe Hughes. His two defeats have come at the hands of the much bigger welterweight-sized Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero [TKO 7] and Ivan Baranchyk [RTD 7].
Since losing to Rolly, the 31-year-old Yigit has won his last two fights against journeymen Ever Garcia Hernandez and Humberto Martinez.
The 2020 Olympic U.S. silver medalist Keyshawn is looking to move up the rankings to get a title shot at lightweight before all the big names move on.
At 23, the two-year professional Davis has wins over Juan Carlos Burgos and Omar Tienda Bahena. Known more for the talking he does outside of the ring rather than for his fights, Davis is still an unknown in the boxing world due to the low-level opposition his promoters at Top Rank have fed him.
Unlike Vasyl Lomachenko, Davis is being brought along very, very slowly by Top Rank, who hasn’t shown any sign of wanting to throw him in with the sharks yet at 135.
It’s too bad because by the time Davis does get a chance to fight for a belt, popular fighters like Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson, and Frank Martin will have moved up to 140, which is quickly becoming the glamor division, taking over for the 135-lb weight class.
“The Newark fans showed me so much love last time, and I can’t wait to give them another special performance,” said Keyshawn Davis. “I’m going to make Yigit regret taking this fight. He’s been in the ring with some good fighters, but I’m on another level.”
Heavyweight Jared Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs), who nicknames “Big Baby,” sharing the same nick with Jarrell Miller, will fight 31-year-old George Arias (18-0, 7 KOs).
It’s a safe pick by Top Rank to put Anderson in with a fighter with no power because he was getting hit a lot in his last fight against journeyman Jerry Forrest, and that had to alarm Top Rank because he’s going to get knocked out sooner or later if he continues to get hit flush.
Top Rank believes the 6’4″Anderson is a future world champion, but there’s a lot of doubt about that. He’s a decent fighter, but he’s mostly just a good talker and hasn’t shown the kind of ability that suggests that he can pick up a belt unless he waits out the champions and moves in the capture a title in the barren landscape once the current top guys, Tyson Fury, Joe Joyce, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua are either retired or too old.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to go to war with Jared Anderson,” said Arias. “I thank my team for helping me get to this position. I can’t wait to show my skills on such a big platform. On April 8, I will pull off the upset.”