Undefeated Jared Anderson (7-0) will be fighting popular spoiler Kingsley Ibeh (5-1-1), who battled unbeaten ex-Olympian Guido Vanello to a 6-round draw last October.
In a six-round heavyweight special attraction, 21-year-old knockout artist Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson will take on Kingsley Ibeh, who went 2-0-1 last year inside the MGM Grand Las Vegas Bubble.
Lopez-Sanchez and Anderson-Ibeh will stream live on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, preceding the ESPN telecast (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) featuring Smith-Vlasov and Richard Commey-Jackson Marinez.
Anderson (7-0, 7 KOs), from Toledo, Ohio, went 5-0 in 2020, including four Bubble knockouts. He most recently knocked out Luis Eduardo Pena in one round, the fifth first-round stoppage of his young career. Ibeh (5-1-1, 4 KOs), a former collegiate football player fighting out of Phoenix, became an instant ESPN favorite with his go-for-broke style. In his last two bouts, the 6’4, 275-pound Ibeh held unbeaten phenom Guido Vianello to a draw and bested the previously undefeated Patrick Mailata by majority decision.
Been waiting to hear who Jared would be facing. A true step up in his young career. Outcome would give us a good idea if (as I suspect) that Jared has passed Guido in development.
Lightweight prospect Eric Puente (4-0), from San Diego, will fight fellow unbeaten Sergio Vega (2-0-1, 2 KOs) in a four-rounder. Puente, who is trained by Robert Garcia, won a pair of decisions last year after more than a year away from the ring.
A pair of highly talented former U.S. amateur stars will make their professional debuts in separate four-round bouts. Troy Isley, from Alexandria, Va., is scheduled to fight Bryant Costello (1-1, 1 KO) at middleweight, while Las Vegas-born bantamweight Floyd “Cashflow” Diaz will fight Fernando Macias (1-1). Diaz made headlines in 2010 as a six-year-old when his flashy mitt work routine was shown on an episode of HBO’s “24/7 Mayweather-Mosley.”
Jahi Tucker (2-0, 1 KO), the 18-year-old prodigy who turned pro last September, will face Eric Rodriguez (1-1, 1 KO) in a four-round welterweight tilt.
world ranked wrote: ↑31 Jan 2021, 11:25
How are we sure that this Ibeh guys better than Rodney Hernadez. I'm not so sure.
I had a good reason for saying Ibeh is a tougher test for Anderson than Hernandez was. If you had seen either Ibeh or Rodney in action you would understand why that is. Hernandez is more of a tough brawler with a solid chin, a good test for any HW novice. Ibeh is a more skilled boxer and in better condition. He can outbox you or KO you. I think you'll find these videos convincing enough. Here's Ibeh battling ex-Olympian Guido Vianello to a 6-round draw.
Here's Hernandez against ex-Olympian Efe Ajagba, losing a 5th-round TKO. Bottom Line: It's my opinion but I believe the evidence backs up that opinion.
Kingsley Ibeh is a very good test for any youngster. So is Hernandez for that matter although I suspect he (Hernandez) might be in decline. Apart from the very respectable draw with Vianello, he (Ibeh) was already on my radar having upset New Zealand prospect Patrick Mailata (maj dec) in his previous fight.
Given that Anderson is only 20 or 21 years old this relatively ambitious matchmaking encourages me to think this kid is going to be an important player within the division before too long. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be the heavyweight Americans have been waiting for. I 'm aware I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but I can't help thinking this guy could be the real deal.
Anderson is a young and up and coming prospect at only 21 years old. Anderson has a good amateur background as he is a two-time USA national champion.
His opponent, Ibeh, is almost the opposite of him. Ibeh is 27 years old and does not have a deep amateur background. He is an insurance salesman and got into boxing when he went into a boxing gym to try and make a sale.
The trainer at the gym asked him if he ever considered boxing, and now here we are. Many may be thinking that Anderson is the obvious favorite to win given his youth and experience, but in Ibeh’s last two fights, he fought young prospects with deep amateur backgrounds, Guido Vianello, who had the same record as Anderson of 7-0 with 7 KOs before his fight with Ibeh now 7-0-1, and Patrick Mailata (4-1 2 KOs).
Ibeh has proved that even with his late start in boxing that he has the potential to compete with good boxers, and he will be giving Anderson his toughest fight thus far as a pro.
world ranked wrote: ↑31 Jan 2021, 11:25
How are we sure that this Ibeh guys better than Rodney Hernadez. I'm not so sure.
he is less proven, but id say more risky.
If you look up his past odds going into fights when anderson fought henandez, henandez opened at +1400 and closed at +1000 where as Ibeh opened at about +600 and is sitting steddy. So bookies though Ibeh had about twice the chance of hernandez had to win, punters seem to think a bit less, but still significantly more likely. I tend to agree.
Can't be sure but evidence favours Ibeh: Anderson was emphatic and without hesitation in confirming when asked that Ibeh was definitely his best opponent to date. He would be best placed to offer an assessment.
They have both had results that are respectable: Hernandez had good wins over prospects LaRon Mitchell and Onoriode Ehwarieme, both unbeaten with a string of wins, not to mention a draw with Joey Dawejko. He has lost his last three though.
Ibeh beat prospect Patrick Mailata and seemed unlucky to get only a draw with highly touted Guido Vianello.
They are both good wins for any youngster but Hernandez is recognized as a quality trial-horse, whereas Ibeh is inexperienced but ambitious.
I was particularly impressed to discover that Jared had actively requested Ibeh as his next opponent because he wanted to make a statement beating a man who was attracting a lot of favourable attention. Again Jared's explanation although I don' t recall his exact words.
He’s a young kid that’s got a long career ahead of him, which means he has got a lot of time to learn his craft.
He looked very flawed in the amateur ranks though. And regardless his accomplishments, the US doesn’t have any world-rated amateurs weighing above 64KG. So I’m not impressed by the trinkets he won in the unpaid ranks.
He obviously felt he wasn’t good enough to achieve anything of note in the Olympics, otherwise he wouldn’t have turned pro so early.
He looked clumsy and vulnerable in his most recent outing.
Like I said before though, he’s only a youngster and time is on his side. He’ll inevitably improve, especially if he keeps sparring the likes of Tyson Fury and Joseph Parker. He’s probably got a bright future ahead of him.
What I find rather interesting though, is that he competed at the 201 lbs (91KG) weight class in the amateurs from 2016 through until 2019.
And his weight is what concerns me the most. He’s gained 50lbs in less than two years. He’s 15lbs heavier than he was twelve months ago.
Back in April, both Anderson and his trainer (Darrie Riley) said they’d like to shift some timber, by weighing 220lbs, but they failed to lose the weight. In fact, he’s currently a lot heavier than he was back then.
And that’s a problem that appears to be spiralling out of control. If he doesn’t address this issue soon, he might end up weighing the same as his fellow “Big Baby” namesake, Jarrell Miller.
He obviously wants to lose the weight, but he can't. And if he maintains his current trajectory, his weight will very likely hinder his athletic prowess and career progression in the long-term.
In twelve months time, Anderson will probably still be facing journeymen calibre opposition. At his age, there's nothing wrong with that.
But if he's weighing 265lbs+, then I'll probably refrain from considering him a prospect worth acknowledging.
