Heavyweight Jared Anderson will be fighting Marios Kollias on the Keyshawn Davis vs. Denys Berinchyk undercard on February 14th at the Hula Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lance Pugmore @pugboxing broke the news of ‘Big Baby’ Anderson fighting Kollias on the Keyshawn-Berinchyk undercard. It’s a relatively safe fight for Anderson, 25, but not entirely because he’s been hurt more than once in his career by lower-level opposition.
A Must-Win For Anderson
This is not a great opponent for Jared Anderson, but he looked so bad in the last fight that he doesn’t look ready for world-class opposition. I don’t know if he will ever be, but that’s Top Rank’s problem. At this point, Jared is what you consider a project and a shaky one.
This will be the first fight for Anderson (17-1, 15 KOs) since he was knocked out in the fifth round by Martin Bakole on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
It’s not surprising that Top Rank has chosen an unknown fighter, matching Jared against the 33-year-old native Greek Kollias (12-3-1, 10 KOs). The way Anderson got blown out by Bakole in a three-knockdown loss would be an insane move to put him in against a contender. Anderson was dropped in the first round and twice more in the fifth by Bakole.
Jared fought well in rounds two through four, and he looked like he was in control up until Bakole hurt him again in the fifth.
Should Top Rank Dump Jared If He Loses?
If Anderson loses this fight, Top Rank may need to consider cutting him loose. They were banking on Jared becoming their next star at heavyweight, but the worrisome signs were there early on when he was staggered by journeyman Jerry Forrest and then hurt again by former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin.
Kollias is coming off a first-round knockout win over journeyman Tamaz Izoria on November 16th. Before that, he was beaten by Kem Ljungquist by a 10-round majority decision on March 9th last year.
In the main event, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) will challenge WBO lightweight champion Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs). Top Rank is pushing Keyshawn, 25, fast with his career, matching him against Berinchyk in his fourth year as a pro.
It could be a mistake on Top Rank’s part to move Davis so quickly because he has not fought anyone as well as the 2012 Olympian Berinchyk and was staggered in his fight against Nahir Albright.
Keyshawn has shown no interest in fighting Cuban Andy Cruz, who beat him four times in the amateurs and owned him. He’s still likely haunted by those defeats and wants to stay far away from his conqueror.
Davis will be fine as long as Top Rank protects him from good opposition, but if they match him against someone with talent, he’ll likely fall apart again.
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