Bob Arum wants Deontay Wilder vs. Jared Anderson fight

By Boxing News - 01/22/2022 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Promoter Bob Arum says he wants to set up a fight between former WBC heavyweight champion and his young 22-year-old prospect Jared Anderson by the end of 2022.

The Top Rank boss Arum believes that the 6’4″ Toledo, Ohio native Anderson (11-0, 11 KOs) will be ready to defeat ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder by that time to become America’s #1 heavyweight.

Unfortunately for Arum, it’s unclear whether the 36-year-old Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) will ever fight again after losing his last two fights by knockout against Tyson Fury.

Anderson being kept busy

Arum promotes Fury, and he’d like to have Jared Anderson get in on the action to add Wilder’s name to his resume before he retires from the sport.

Getting a knockout victory over Wilder would give Jared’s burgeoning career a tremendous boost, putting him on the map worldwide.

Anderson would be pushed up high in the heavyweight rankings with victory over the 6’7″ Deontay and get him in position for a fast world title shot.

Anderson recently scored a pair of second round knockout wins over Eastern European fighters Oleksandr Teslenko and Vladimir Tereshkin in 2021.

Before that, Jared stopped Jeremiah Karpency in the second round and Kingsley Ibeh in the sixth. All four of those fights took place last year, which is the way fighters should be brought along.

Arum believes in keeping his fighters busy, and he’s doing a bang-up job with the young 22-year-old Jared Anderson, who guys by the nickname  ‘Big Baby.’

That’s not the most excellent nickname for Jared to have, given that it’s already associated with American heavyweight Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, who hasn’t fought since 2018 but is well known among the hardcore boxing fans.

Arum targeting Wilder vs. Anderson in late 2022

“Wilder is a terrific talent. He hits like a mule, as Tyson would attest to,” said Arum to Sky Sports.”Pretty much anybody in the heavyweight division would lose to Wilder.

Image: Bob Arum wants Deontay Wilder vs. Jared Anderson fight

The one guy who will be equipped to beat him by the end of this year is Anderson.

“I would be prepared to discuss a potential Wilder vs. Anderson fight by the end of this year.

“We are grooming him to be the next heavyweight champion after Fury.,” said Arum.

It’s improbable that Wilder would take a fight with a prospect like Jared Anderson because the money wouldn’t be there for that type of fight, and it’s doubtful that Deontay would want to be put in that position.

Arum wants Deontay to be a stepping stone type of opponent for Anderson, and he’s not that far gone for him to serve that purpose. Moreover, Wilder is massively wealthy with a net worth estimated at $45 million.

With that kind of money, Wilder will not be lured into being the trial horse for Arum to use to raise Jared Anderson’s profile in the boxing world.

Of course, if Arum throws crazy money at Wilder by offering him $15 million, he’d probably agree to it if he’s not able to get a shot against Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, or Oleksander Usyk.

 Jared Anderson like “young Muhammad Ali”

“Mike Tyson was a tremendous puncher who didn’t show much boxing ability,” Arum said.

“Jared has shown boxing ability and power. He reminds me more of a young Muhammad Ali than a young Mike Tyson.”

This writer doesn’t see the similarities between Jared Anderson and a young Muhammad Ali. For starters, Anderson is a lot heavier than Ali was when he was in his early 20s, knocking out fighters like Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, and Henry Cooper.

Ali weighed around 207 lbs in his early 20s, whereas Jared Anderson has recently weighed 240 lbs. Essentially, Ali was a cruiserweight in terms of his size, which allowed him to move well around the ring.

Jared Anderson fights more like Shakur Stevenson

Anderson is the new generation of heavyweights that are like super heavyweights with their size. He’s not like Ali. Anderson’s pull-back fighting style makes him more like a bigger version of Shakur Stevenson than Ali.

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