An interesting clash of unbeaten heavyweights has been replaced by a still-interesting clash of heavyweights; this is between one fighter who is on the way, some experts think, to the top and one who briefly ruled the world. Jared “Big Baby” Anderson, 14-0(14), will face former IBF heavyweight champ “Prince” Charles Martin in Toledo, Ohio, on July 1st.
Anderson, for many, THE hottest young and unbeaten big man out there today, was to have faced the unbeaten Zhan Kossubutskiy, but the man from Kazakhstan had to pull out of the fight due to problems obtaining a visa to travel to the US. So in steps 37-year-old southpaw Martin, 29-3-1(16).
Martin has been in with a number of big names, as we know, including Anthony Joshua, Luis Ortiz, Adam Kownacki, and others. In his last fight, back in September, Martin stopped a faded Devin Vargas. Prior to that, Martin showed real heart in slugging it out with Cuba’s aging dangerman Ortiz, Martin eventually being stopped in the sixth round of a fight that saw both men hit the floor.
Now, against 23-year-old Anderson, a man who has yet to be taken the distance in a pro outing, Martin will be looking to knock off a red-hot prospect and earn himself another shot at the big time. Martin should be in shape, too, because he was set to face unbeaten prospect Gurgen Hovhannisyan on the July 29 Terence Crawford Vs. Errol Spence card in Las Vegas.
Can Martin give Anderson his toughest test to date? Can Martin go further than that at derail Anderson, who will be fighting before a hometown crowd at the Huntington Center in Toledo? This is a good fight, a good replacement fight for certain. Martin has shown he can be a handful in a number of his fights, that poor showing against AJ a long time ago now.
Anderson, as good as he has looked and appeared to be, has to be the pick to win this one, but it could be exciting for as long as it lasts. And Anderson might learn a few things during the fight.