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Heavyweight Jared Anderson will fight Marios Kollias on the Keyshawn Davis vs. Denys Berinchyk card on February 14 at the Hula Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lance Pugmore @pugboxing broke the news of ‘Big Baby’ Anderson fighting Kollias on the Keyshawn-Berinchyk undercard. 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 opposition.
A must for Anderson
This isn’t a huge opponent for Jared Anderson, but he looked so bad in the last fight that he doesn’t look 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 project and unstable.
This will be Anderson’s (17-1, 15 KOs) first fight since being 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 33-year-old Greek Kollias (12-3-1, 10 KOs). The way Anderson was knocked out by Bakole in a three-fight losing streak would be a crazy move to put him against a contender. Anderson was knocked out in the first round and twice more in the fifth by Bakole.
Jared fought well in rounds two through four, and looked to be in control until Bakole hurt him again in the fifth.
Should Top Rank dump Jared if he loses?
If Anderson loses this fight, Top Rank should consider letting him go. They were hoping that Jared would become their next heavyweight star, but the worrying signs were there early on when he was stepped on by official Jerry Forrest and then injured again by the former heavyweight champion of the FIB Charles Martin.
Kollias is coming off a first-round knockout win over official Tamaz Izoria on November 16. Before that, Kem Ljungquist beat him by a 10-round majority decision on March 9 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 the 25-year-old Keyshawn quickly with his career, matching 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 faced anyone as well as 2012 Olympian Berinchyk and was outmatched in his fight against Nahir Albright.
Keyshawn has shown no interest in fighting Cuban Andy Cruz, who beat him four times in the amateurs and owned him. It is likely that he is still haunted by these 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 they put him up against someone talented, he’s likely to fall apart again.
