Heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson (14-0, 14 KOs) expects his ten-round fight against former IBF champion Charles Martin (29-3-1, 26 KOs) to be his last before his promoters at Top Rank step him up against the higher-level competition to get him ready to challenge for a world title.
Anderson, 23, and Martin will be headlining on ESPN this Saturday, July 1st, at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.
The southpaw Martin, 37, still has plenty in the tank, and he could make it interesting if he can make it past the first five rounds against Anderson. Martin has got the kind of power in his left hand where he could change the course of a fight with a single shot.
Unfortunately for Martin, many boxing fans wrote him off after Anthony Joshua knocked him out in the second round in 2016. However, Martin has only lost twice since then, and he’s looked good even in the fights he’s been beaten.
How to watch Anderson vs. Martin: It will be shown live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.
Nothing but step-ups for Jared Anderson after Martin
“I’m the heavyweight killer. We’re going to broaden that up. We’re stopping all of them. We’re coming through to beat everybody and anybody we need to beat,” said Jared Anderson to Fighthype.
I ain’t going to say it like that, but I seen the interview. He was studdering a lot when they asked him about me,” said Jaareed when asked if he could be facing unbeaten, highly ranked contenderArslanbek Makhmudov next.
“I know English isn’t his first language. I understand that, but he was all over the place when they asked him. I ain’t saying that he’ll be the next fight, and I think there’s a lot of fighters that wouldn’t accept that fight if we called them.
“So, I’m not going to say my next fight is anybody in the top ten because there’s a lot of fighters that still don’t want to fight me, but I will say that after this fight, there’s nothing but step-ups and higher competition and stuff like that.
“I think Top Rank is moving me great, and whatever they’re doing next is right, and I’m ready for the journey,” said Jared Anderson.
Jared ready for Martin
“I definitely think I’ll be a southpaw Slayer on Saturday night [against Charles Martin],” said Anderson.
“I’m chiseling up simply because I’m maintaining my weight, but
I’m eating right, I’m training right, I’m staying active. It’s not a lot of off days, although I think it should be a lot more off days, I’m looking forward to resting and doing a lot of media promotion stuff so that I can rest my body and be prepared for Saturday night.
“I’m going to start off by saying I love Tim Bradley. I love you, but you’re a horrible commentator,” said Anderson about ESPN commentator Tim Bradley, who has been critical at times of him for the mistakes he makes in his fights.
“He’s very vice versa. He switches a lot. One minute, he’s your best friend in the ring, and the next minute, he’s your worst critic. I think he started off by saying that I was doing one of the best things I could be doing, and then he switched and turned around. ‘Now, he’s doing this, and now he’s basically looking bad. He better get his hands up before he gets knocked out.’
“He [George Arias] threw a wild right hand and missed completely, and he was like, ‘That’s one of them shots that h might need to get hit with before he wakes up.’ I’m like, ‘What? He just missed right past by face. It wasn’t even close. It didn’t hit my glove or none of that. So what made you talk like that?’
“I think he might be talking some time to get the fans going and stuff. But I do think I’m more alert now than I was. That’s why in the Arias fight, I took my time, used my jab, and it did go to the third round. I think if I had gone barbaric and tried to knock his head off, I think it would have ended in two, but I would have looked a lot sloppier.
“It ended in the third because I took my time and used my jab, and did it the right way. In the Jerry Forrest fight, I got hit in the beginning. Everybody says, ‘Can he take a punch?’ That was too huge left hands, and I didn’t buckle or stumble. I switched stances and got back on my game.
“I threw a lot more punches. I got hit a few times, but it was never to the extent of one big shot. It was me throwing fifteen punches and him throwing one wild one, and it barely hits me,” said Anderson.
