Once looked at as a red-hot heavyweight prospect and probable future champion, Jared Anderson got the comeback job done last night in returning to winning ways for the first time since being hammered by Martin Bakole.
Anderson, still only 25 years old, which is, of course, very young for a heavyweight boxer these days, improved to 18-1(15) courtesy of his decision win over Greek heavyweight Marios Kollias, 12-4-1(10).
The scores were 98-92, and 99-91, 99-91. Going into last night’s fight that took place on the Keyshawn Davis-Denys Berinchyk card at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York, plenty of fans felt Anderson would get the stoppage win over Kollias, perhaps quite quickly.
Instead, Anderson saw his little-known foe take his best shots without issue. And in the final seconds of the 10th and final round, Kollias had some eye-catching success, this as he nailed Anderson with a couple of power punches that got home as “The Real Big Baby” was on the ropes.
You could say Anderson’s performance last night drew mixed reactions as best. Bruce Trampler, the matchmaker for Top Rank, sure made his feelings clear. Posting on X, Trampler, who has been around the sport for years, wrote the following:
“If [Anderson] don’t want it, he ain’t gonna get it,” Trampler began. “Today looked like all the people at Top Rank worked harder for him than he worked for himself.”
“Hilarious? (Trampler continued later, this in response to the comment on Anderson’s social media post that shot back at Trampler’s initial words “this is hilarious.”
“Nobody’s laughing. You can be world champ if you truly want it. Sad if you don’t realize your potential and give it your best effort. But that’s up to you, champ. We still love you.”
So, was Anderson fighting as hard as he could last night, or was he, for want of a better description, going through the motions? Does Anderson really believe in himself to the extent that he can rise to the very top of the heavyweight division? Or has Anderson got some serious mental demons that may prevent him from ever becoming a world champion?
It will be interesting to see who Anderson is matched up against in his next fight and when his next bout will be. Can Anderson get back to where he was when he was putting on dominant displays that had us all excited? Or did that crushing loss to Bakole take a whole lot out of Anderson?
