NEW YORK — After headlining Top Rank shows in 2024, Jared Anderson found himself slotted in the second fight of Friday’s preliminary undercard at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. It was a stark indication of just how fickle the sport can be, but it also served as a platform for Anderson to bounce back from his first career defeat.
The 25-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, returned with a unanimous decision win over Marios Kollias, with two judges scoring the fight 99-91 and the third finding another round for Kollias to turn in a scorecard of 98-92.
Anderson, 18-1 (15 KOs), may have jinxed himself after the first round, telling new trainer Prenice Brewer that he wasn’t keen to go the full distance. Instead of knocking out the Sweden-based Greek, Anderson found himself in another tough test as the durable Kollias showed he could take Anderson’s best punch and fire back.
While Kollias brought power and durability, Anderson had a distinct edge in speed and skill, using his range to dominate the fight at mid-range behind his jab.
Anderson found success throughout the bout with his body punching, which opened up punches upstairs, leaving Kollias’ face marked up. Kollias wasn’t going anywhere, however, and was able to land punches inside, particularly when Anderson would pull straight back out of exchanges.
Kollias had his best success in the final five seconds of the fight, hanging Anderson on the ropes to land three to four power shots that drew “oohs” from the crowd. Anderson turned to Kollias to suggest that the punches had no effect, and soon the two embraced in mutual respect.
With the win, Anderson gets back on track after his fifth-round knockout loss to Martin Bakole last August.
The 33-year-old Kollias drops to 12-4-1 (10 KOs).
In the night’s opening bout, Nico Ali Walsh suffered his second pro defeat, losing a split decision to Juan Carlos Guerra Jnr in a six-round middleweight fight.
Two judges had the fight for Guerra at 58-56, while the third had it for Walsh by the same score.
From the outset, it was clear that Walsh, the grandson of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, didn’t have the power to keep Guerra at bay. Walsh’s jabs were mostly ignored by the Chicago-based fighter, who owns a concrete business in his day job.
Guerra, now 6-1-1 (2 KOs), did his best work with his overhand right, which Walsh, 10-2 (5 KOs), all too frequently walked into by ignoring his corner’s instructions to move to his own right.
Walsh’s most effective punches came in the form of body punching, but it wasn’t enough to slow Guerra down.
The 24-year-old Walsh has now lost two of his last four fights, with his first defeat coming on a majority decision against Sona Akale in 2023. Walsh won a rematch with Akale last year by unanimous decision.
The 29-year-old Guerra will return home to Chicago with a bragging rights win over a family member of a famous fighter who once called Chicago home.
Read the full article here
