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Heavyweight Jared Anderson will fight Marios Kollias on the undercard of Keyshawn Davis vs. Denys Berinchyk on February 14 at the Hula Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lance Pugmore @pugboxing broke the news that ‘Big Baby’ Anderson will fight Kollias on the Keyshawn-Berinchyk card. It’s a relatively safe fight for the 25-year-old Anderson, but not entirely because he’s been hurt more than once in his career by lower-level opponents.
A must win for Anderson
This isn’t a great opponent for Jared Anderson, but he looked so bad in the last fight that he doesn’t seem ready for world-class opposition. I don’t know if it ever will be, but that’s the problem with Top Rank. At this point, Jared is what you consider a shaky project.
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 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Not surprisingly, Top Rank chose an unknown fighter, pitting Jared against the 33-year-old Greece native Kollias (12-3-1, 10 KOs). The way Anderson was defeated by Bakole in a three-knockdown loss would be a crazy move to put him against a contender. Anderson was knocked down in the first round and twice more in the fifth by Bakole.
Jared fought well in rounds two through four, and looked like he was in control until Bakole hurt him again in the fifth.
Should Top Rank get rid of Jared if they lose?
If Anderson loses this fight, Top Rank may have to consider releasing him. They were counting on Jared to become their next heavyweight star, but the worrying signs were there from the start when he was surprised by journeyman Jerry Forrest and then injured again by former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin.
Kollias is coming off a first-round knockout victory over journeyman Tamaz Izoria on November 16. Before that, he was defeated by Kem Ljungquist by majority decision in 10 rounds on March 9 of 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 in his career, pitting him against Berinchyk in his fourth year as a pro.
It could be a mistake for Top Rank to move Davis so quickly because he hasn’t fought anyone as well as 2012 Olympian Berinchyk and was blown away in his fight against Nahir Albright.
Keyshawn has shown no interest in fighting Cuban Andy Cruz, who beat him four times in the amateur tournament and controlled him. He is probably still haunted by those defeats and wants to stay away from his conqueror.
Davis will be fine as long as Top Rank protects him from good opposition, but if he’s matched against someone with talent, he’ll probably fall apart again.
