It wasn’t too long ago when so many of us were plenty excited about unbeaten US heavyweight Jared Anderson. Back in 2022/2023/2024, Anderson was scoring exciting, fun-to-watch wins over the likes of Jerry Forrest, George Arias, and Andriy Rudenko. But around this time, “The Real Big Baby” struggled some in winning a decision over “Prince” Charles Martin. Some fans had expressed concern over Anderson’s leaky defense even before the Martin test. And then, in August of last year, Anderson was taken out by the huge Martin Bakole.
Losing for the first time can prove to be a tough, tough time for any fighter, but Anderson’s almost casual reaction to the loss perhaps proved troubling. Anderson didn’t exactly seem devastated at losing his unbeaten record. Maybe this will prove to be a good thing, and Anderson, after saying he was going to see his daughter, stated that he would be going back to the gym.
Now, coming back for his first fight back, Anderson has to prove to us all, and most importantly to himself, what he’s made of. Anderson, 17-1(15) will face Marios Kollias this Friday night in New York, this on the Denys Berinchyk-Keyshawn Davis card. Kollias of Greece is currently 12-3-1(10), with the 33-year-old having been stopped once. On paper, Anderson should win without too much trouble, Kollias having faced a number of fighters with losing records, Friday’s fight being a real step up for him.
But this is heavyweight boxing, and pretty much anything can happen. It would be a big upset if Anderson lost to the man from Greece who lives in Sweden, but it is possible Anderson suffered major mental damage in the form of a real loss of confidence in the Bakole disaster. Who knows? Anderson is still plenty young enough to be able to come back at age 25, but how much does the Toledo man really want it?
Plenty of fighters have managed to all but brush off their maiden defeat and use the lesson learned as motivation to come back stronger. Maybe Anderson will prove to be one such fighter. On the flip side, numerous fighters, after tasting the pain of defeat for the first time, were never the same again. Some harsher critics do say Anderson was exposed as a hype fighter in the loss to Bakole.
The comeback starts on Friday, and again, on paper Anderson has been given a safe one with which to return to winning ways. But what will happen when Anderson again steps up to face an elite fighter? Providing he does get the win over Kollias, Anderson will then have the opportunity to really show us all he’s back for real by going in and beating a genuine contender. Can he do it? At this point in time, the jury really is out on how good a fighter Anderson is.
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