Jared Anderson vs. Charles Martin | Sky Sports - 1 July 2023

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Sources: Heavyweights Jared Anderson, Zhan Kossobutskiy to meet

Jared "Big Baby" Anderson and Zhan Kossobutskiy will meet in a battle of big-punching undefeated heavyweights on July 1 in Toledo, Ohio, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

Anderson, ESPN's No. 8 heavyweight, will fight in his hometown for the first time in his pro career and will also make his debut in an ESPN main event. The 23-year-old will return home on the heels of his two most-impressive victories.

In a pair of step-up bouts, Anderson (14-0, 14 KOs) stopped Jerry Forrest in Round 2 in December and followed up with a third-round TKO victory over George Arias earlier this month. Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs) of Kazakhstan will represent another jump in class as Anderson's stiffest test yet.

The southpaw's best win came last February, a fifth-round TKO of former title challenger Johann Duhaupas. Now, Kossobutskiy will make his North American debut against his best opponent to date.

Both fighters are full-sized heavyweights: Anderson is 6-foot-4, 247-plus pounds while Kossobutskiy is 6-3 and about 240. Between the two fighters, only one opponent has lasted the distance: a six-round bout for Kossobutskiy in 2018.

Anderson has appeared to be the next great American heavyweight and the bout against Kossobutskiy will be the best glimpse yet into just how good he will someday be.

Anderson unloaded over 100 punches in the opening round vs. Forrest and his fan-friendly style is made for TV.

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Jared Anderson On Toledo Homecoming: “I'm Doing This For The People Out There Fighting To Survive”

“I’m super excited. Just happy to see all the familiar faces,” Anderson said through a radiant smile during a press conference held Tuesday at the Glass City Pavilion in Toledo. “The friends, the family. The cameras are good and all but I’m doing this for the city. I’m doing this for the people out here. I’m doing this for the people that don’t have phones in their hands and are out there in the world right now fighting to survive.

“I’ve been fighting to survive for a long time. Now that I don’t have to do that, I want to show you all that hopefully you won’t have to do that, too. Just keep fighting. Keep striving to be better and you all gonna get it for sure.”

“Those people you see in the crowd, they helped me get here today,” noted Anderson. “They pushed me to get here. They called my phone, stopped me from going to parties and all those other events, to make sure that I got here to this day, to this point right here to make this whole city proud.”

[Coco]

A no win fight for the American, looks damn dangerous too.

I think I read that the Rusky was with FW

Perhaps that's why he has a good fight on a Top Rank show

[KiwiRider]

A no win fight for the American, looks damn dangerous too.

I think I read that the Rusky was with FW

Perhaps that's why he has a good fight on a Top Rank show

I lookon it a bit differently than that.
This is a fight between two prospects where the winner elevates to contender. Jared is young enough to easily come back from a loss here, he is only 23. It's a risk, but it's also a fast track. If I was 23 ( young, dumb and full of..) I'd take the fight.

[Coco]

A no win fight for the American, looks damn dangerous too.

I think I read that the Rusky was with FW

Perhaps that's why he has a good fight on a Top Rank show

I lookon it a bit differently than that.
This is a fight between two prospects where the winner elevates to contender. Jared is young enough to easily come back from a loss here, he is only 23. It's a risk, but it's also a fast track. If I was 23 ( young, dumb and full of..) I'd take the fight.

All fighters would take it, promoters no!
Anderson def is young enough to come back, the Russian less so, and beating the American hardly guarantees a shot of the title.
On the other hand if Anderson looks great it's because he's fighting a nobody with a padded record.

[KiwiRider]

A no win fight for the American, looks damn dangerous too.

I think I read that the Rusky was with FW

Perhaps that's why he has a good fight on a Top Rank show

I lookon it a bit differently than that.
This is a fight between two prospects where the winner elevates to contender. Jared is young enough to easily come back from a loss here, he is only 23. It's a risk, but it's also a fast track. If I was 23 ( young, dumb and full of..) I'd take the fight.

All fighters would take it, promoters no!
Anderson def is young enough to come back, the Russian less so, and beating the American hardly guarantees a shot of the title.
On the other hand if Anderson looks great it's because he's fighting a nobody with a padded record.

Agree with all that
And no it doesn't guarantee a shot by any means, and I think Anderson is years away from ready.
What it does is prove the winner is better than fighting nobody's with padded records, and in this age of heavily protected prospects, it's the best we can get. Sad reality.
And like you said, the Russian at 34 needs this win more. He has left it a bit late in the glacial speed the division moves now.

[Coco]

I lookon it a bit differently than that.
This is a fight between two prospects where the winner elevates to contender. Jared is young enough to easily come back from a loss here, he is only 23. It's a risk, but it's also a fast track. If I was 23 ( young, dumb and full of..) I'd take the fight.

All fighters would take it, promoters no!
Anderson def is young enough to come back, the Russian less so, and beating the American hardly guarantees a shot of the title.
On the other hand if Anderson looks great it's because he's fighting a nobody with a padded record.

Agree with all that
And no it doesn't guarantee a shot by any means, and I think Anderson is years away from ready.
What it does is prove the winner is better than fighting nobody's with padded records, and in this age of heavily protected prospects, it's the best we can get. Sad reality.
And like you said, the Russian at 34 needs this win more. He has left it a bit late in the glacial speed the division moves now.

But for the fans, a great fight, if Carlsberg were matching fighters.........

[oogiebe]

All fighters would take it, promoters no!
Anderson def is young enough to come back, the Russian less so, and beating the American hardly guarantees a shot of the title.
On the other hand if Anderson looks great it's because he's fighting a nobody with a padded record.

Agree with all that
And no it doesn't guarantee a shot by any means, and I think Anderson is years away from ready.
What it does is prove the winner is better than fighting nobody's with padded records, and in this age of heavily protected prospects, it's the best we can get. Sad reality.
And like you said, the Russian at 34 needs this win more. He has left it a bit late in the glacial speed the division moves now.

But for the fans, a great fight, if Carlsberg were matching fighters.........

It's a great matchup of two prospects. Personally I think Anderson is a level or two above Zhan at the moment.

[KiwiRider]

Agree with all that
And no it doesn't guarantee a shot by any means, and I think Anderson is years away from ready.
What it does is prove the winner is better than fighting nobody's with padded records, and in this age of heavily protected prospects, it's the best we can get. Sad reality.
And like you said, the Russian at 34 needs this win more. He has left it a bit late in the glacial speed the division moves now.

But for the fans, a great fight, if Carlsberg were matching fighters.........

It's a great matchup of two prospects. Personally I think Anderson is a level or two above Zhan at the moment.

I do too, but like Coco said, it's easy to look good fighting nobody with a padded record. So until this fight happens, I have to keep my judgment of Anderson in check, even though I don't want to

[margaret thatcher]

jah is a total stud, zhan aint bad at all but he'll cop a battering

[KiwiRider]

jah is a total stud, zhan aint bad at all but he'll cop a battering

Ari mon, I love it how you get all Caribbean over Jah Rastfari

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Press Release | Undercard Information

Two Ohio-born talents have joined the pre-Independence Day celebration as part of the ESPN+-streamed undercard to the heavyweight doubleheader featuring Toledo’s Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson against Kazakhstan’s Zhan Kossobutskiy in a 10-round main event on Saturday, July 1 at Toledo’s Huntington Center.

Cleveland native Abdullah Mason will make his third appearance of 2023 in a six-round lightweight fight against Tobias Green, while Toledo-born junior lightweight Tyler McCreary will face an opponent to be named in a six-rounder.

Anderson-Kossobutskiy and Arslanbek Makhmudov-Raphael Akpejiori will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Mason (8-0, 7 KOs) is a 19-year-old prodigy who was considered one of the brightest talents in U.S. amateur boxing before signing with Top Rank in October 2021. Mason debuted as a pro the following month with a second-round TKO over Jaylan Phillips. In 2022, Mason went 5-0 with four knockouts.

The southpaw phenom plans to be just as dominant this year after a first-round knockout over Erick Garcia Benitez in April and a sixth-round TKO win over Desmond Lyons last month on the Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko undercard. Green (10-3, 3 KOs) is a 27-year-old Floridian who returns after an eight-round decision win against Ryan Schwartzberg last October.

McCreary (17-2-1, 8 KOs) is an almost nine-year pro who is on the comeback trail. Following his 2019 showdown against former two-division world champion Carl Frampton, the 30-year-old experienced a near-two-year layoff before losing to Manuel Rey Rojas in 2021. Last month, however, he overcame another layoff to score a first-round knockout against Jake Bornea in Toledo.

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Sources: Charles Martin to step in on short notice vs. Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson will fight former heavyweight titleholder Charles Martin on July 1 in Toledo, Ohio, after Kazakhstan's Zhan Kossobutskiy was forced to withdraw with a visa issue, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

Anderson (14-0, 14 KOs), a 23-year-old rising star in the heavyweight division, has finished his past six opponents inside three rounds, including a second-round stoppage of heavyweight trial horse Jerry Forrest in December.

Now Anderson will step up to the toughest opponent of his career, albeit on short notice, in his first ESPN main event. The bout will be a homecoming for Anderson, who hails from Toledo.

Martin (29-3-1, 26 KOs) won the vacant IBF heavyweight title in January 2016 when his opponent, Vyacheslav Glazkov, blew out his right knee. Martin was knocked out by Anthony Joshua in his first defense and hasn't challenged for a title since.

A 37-year-old southpaw, Martin impressed in a defeat to Luis Ortiz last year, flooring the Cuban twice before Martin was stopped in Round 6. Martin rebounded with a fourth-round knockout of Devin Vargas in August.

[cormack]

martin getting KO`D again

[mickey1975]

martin getting KO`D again

They're calling AJ's win over him 'infamous' now in the mainstream media. At least the masses finally see it for what it was.

[The Gratest]

The masses and MSM are a fickle lot. The way they've turned completely on Fury after the AJ and Usyk 'negotiations' has been quite shocking.

There's belief that Martin was hampered by having to borrow a spare pair of Jamie Mcdonnell's shorts for the Joshua fight.

[margaret thatcher]

chuck martin's jab is so powerful he sat luis ortiz on his arse with it, never doubt him

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“100%. 1000%. Every day I wake up and somebody tells me ‘you gotta eat this’ and I ask why I gotta eat that and they say ’cause it’s gonna make you feel better, make you perform better. I’m gonna do it, you understand me, like when somebody tells me you can’t drink coconut water.

It’s nothing I can’t do, cause at the end of the day it’s gonna pay the bills. I’m willing to do what I have to do provide, but it’s been a job since the day I turned pro.”

“If financial stability comes long before a world championship then I’ll be retired.”

[cpx2]

“100%. 1000%. Every day I wake up and somebody tells me ‘you gotta eat this’ and I ask why I gotta eat that and they say ’cause it’s gonna make you feel better, make you perform better. I’m gonna do it, you understand me, like when somebody tells me you can’t drink coconut water.

It’s nothing I can’t do, cause at the end of the day it’s gonna pay the bills. I’m willing to do what I have to do provide, but it’s been a job since the day I turned pro.”

“If financial stability comes long before a world championship then I’ll be retired.”

Shouldn't matter against his current calibre of opposition, but if someone takes him into deep waters down the stretch of an eliminator or something, this isn't a particularly promising sign. He's got the physical gifts to make it to the very top but his defence appears non-existent. We'll see if that changes once he starts facing guys with power.

[KiwiRider]

“100%. 1000%. Every day I wake up and somebody tells me ‘you gotta eat this’ and I ask why I gotta eat that and they say ’cause it’s gonna make you feel better, make you perform better. I’m gonna do it, you understand me, like when somebody tells me you can’t drink coconut water.

It’s nothing I can’t do, cause at the end of the day it’s gonna pay the bills. I’m willing to do what I have to do provide, but it’s been a job since the day I turned pro.”

“If financial stability comes long before a world championship then I’ll be retired.”

Shouldn't matter against his current calibre of opposition, but if someone takes him into deep waters down the stretch of an eliminator or something, this isn't a particularly promising sign. He's got the physical gifts to make it to the very top but his defence appears non-existent. We'll see if that changes once he starts facing guys with power.

His best defence right now is that hard jab from range. So far, as long as he keeps pumping that out it is working at the current level of opposition. But your right, as soon as he steps it up, that isn't going to work and he is wide open.
It's all a learning process.
Charles Martin may have some success early on, he is reasonably skilled and a southpaw. Problem is, he has had 4 weeks notice, and he was fading badly against Ortiz by the 5th round after a full camp.

[margaret thatcher]

i get the impression that he gets lazy defensively because he dominates so easily and doesnt respect the opponent as a threat. he's never had to fight at even 75 percent. would love to see how he responds if someone starts pushing him

[TheLeprechaun]

In fairness to Anderson he is doing what he has to do at the moment and I doubt Martin will be seeing the final bell.