A smiling & dancing Jared Anderson and Martin Bakole made their grand arrival on Tuesday for their heavyweight clash at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, broadcast live on DAZN PPV. The 6’6″ hat-wearing Bakole (20-1, 15 KOs) looked taller and bigger than Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) during their face-off.
(Photo credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)
Anderson’s Psychological Edge?
Still smiling, Anderson, 24, continued to stare down Bakole, 31, after he turned to the audience. Anderson never took eyes off Bakole and was happy that he’d turned away first to face the audience.
Anderson treated it as a minor psychological victory. Given how little Anderson has done during his career, he doesn’t have room to be cocky. He’s looked terrible in recent fights and appears to be giving nowhere.
Hopefully, Anderson will come to fight because fans want to see the two heavyweights go to war. In his recent fights, Anderson has adopted the step-back fighting approach of his good friend, lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, and he has failed to please fans.
Some fans feel this is too big of a step up for Anderson to go up against Bakole, and he’ll fall apart under the pressure. If Anderson loses, his ranking will drop. He’s currently rated #4 WBO, #5 IBF, and #6 WBC.
Top Rank will need to decide what they want to do with Anderson because he already looked bad against Charles Martin, getting hurt twice, and he fought like a copy of Shakur in his last fight against Merhy and was booed by the fans.
Bakole’s Confident Prediction
Chris Mannix: “You finally got that big fight that you were looking for. How do you feel going into this fight?”
Martin Bakole: “I’m here to take care of business. I’m not here to joke. I’m not here to play.”
Mannix: “You got a big puncher in front of you in Jared Anderson. What’s the key to beating him?”
Bakole: “I knock him out.”
Mannix: “Hey, Jared. He said he’s going to knock you out. What do you think?”
Jared Anderson: “I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait for him to show me. You know what’s going on.”
Mannix: “You certainly have the swagger of a heavyweight champion. Do you believe this gets you one step closer?
Anderson: “Every fight gets me one step closer. I’m here to win. I’m here to put on a show for the crowd. As you can see, they”re excited already. I’m here to do my job.”
Mannix: “You said after your last fight you wanted a guy that came to fight. This guy certainly looks like he’s here to fight. Do you believe this is a fight you can look great in?”
Anderson: “100%. He’s coming forward nowhere but to stand in the middle of the ring. I love it and want to see it.”
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