By Jeff Aronow: Heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson (11-0, 11 KOs) will be taking on journeyman Christian Hammer (29-9, 16 KOs) on the undercard of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s title defense against Dillian Whyte on April 23rd at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum reports that the 22-year-old Jared Anderson is already heading over to England to help out Fury with sparring preparation for his defense against his WBC mandatory Whyte.
Arum is calling this a step up in class for the 6’4″ Anderson in putting him in with the 34-year-old Hammer, but it’s more of a lateral move.
The Germany-based Hammer has lost four out of his last six fights, and he’s looking pretty well shot at this stage in his 14-year professional career.
Hughie Fury, who is not known for his punching power, quickly stopped Hammer in five rounds last October in Newcastle.
In Hammer’s last fight, he was beaten by heavyweight contender Frank Sanchez by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on January 1st on the Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin card in Hollywood, Florida.
Given the 22-year-old Jared Anderson’s youth, Top Rank isn’t going to take any chances with him by matching him tough for a while. Arum believes that Anderson has the potential to become a heavyweight champion someday.
Given the many years before Anderson will be ready to fight the upper-level contenders, it’s debatable whether he’ll ever make it that far.
There will be other talented heavyweights emerging in the next four years while Anderson is slowly being groomed, and they’ll likely have more power than him.
It might be better for Arum to push Jared a little faster because the division looks wide open with Anthony Joshua on the steep decline, Oleksandr Usyk away at war in Ukraine, and Fury on the brink of retirement.
Jared Anderson battling Christian Hammer
“He’s fighting Christian Hammer. It’s a big step up for Jared,” said Bob Arum to Thaboxingvoice on heavyweight Jared Anderson fighting on the Fury vs. Whyte undercard on April 23rd in London.
“He leaves this weekend to go to England to spar Tyson. Tyson says there’s nobody like him for sparring. Yeah, we look at Jared without any question as a future heavyweight champion,” said Arum.
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Anderson has recent wins over Oleksandr Teslenko, Vladimir Tereshkin, Jeremiah Karpency, and Kingsley Ibeh. Although Jared has looked good in those fights, he seems too focused on defense and not enough on his offense.
“They’re all gone; all sold out. We could have sold out a couple of times over,” said promote Frank Warren to BT Sport Boxing. “It shows the appetite for the fight and shows the appetite for Tyson Fury.
“He’s had tremendous fights in Amerca. Those fights with Deontay Wilder were epic fights, all of them. They were just exciting, amazing fights.
“It was four years away from the UK, and he’s coming back here making his homecoming, his debut at Wembley Stadium,” Warren said of Fury. “Everybody but everybody wants to see it, as the uptake of the tickets and the sellout.
“He’s in full camp, and he has his sparring partners and team in. It’s not far away now. It’s only a month. So, he’s training hard and looking forward to the fight.
“When you are what he is, which is the #1 heavyweight in the world and the best heavyweight in a generation. As a fighter, it’s brilliant, but as a performer, it’s even better. The fact that he could carry that on his own without an opponent. It’s brilliant,” said Warren.
Whyte must face Fury
“I hope so. Otherwise, there won’t be a fight,” said Warren when asked if we’ll hear from Dillian Whyte on fight week. “Look, he [Dillian] has contractual commitments.
“He’s fouled on one of them already, but I think, well, I hope he will on the week of the fight be there. I hope he’ll act professionally and do what he should do, which is be available to the press to help market and help sell the fight and the pay-per-view.
“I hope he does that, but if he doesn’t, there will be a problem afterward. One thing is for sure. He’s not going to be able to avoid Tyson Fury.
“He’s going to have to be at that press conference, and he’s going to have to face up to him at the weigh-in. More importantly, on the night, he’s going to have to get in the ring with him. That is what he’s going to have to do.
“A good Tyson Fury is a tough fight for anybody. He’s like a good wine. He’s maturing and getting better in every performance, and he’s a tough guy.
“He’s got a great chin, and we know he’s got great hand speed, great footwork, he’s got a fantastic boxing brain, he can punch. Ask Deontay Wilder, he’ll confirm that he can punch, and he’s got great recovery powers if he gets clipped himself.
“He’s a switch hitter; he’s a bloody handful for anyone. He ticks all the boxes, doesn’t he? He’s got everything going for him. He’s really up for this fight, and I think we’re going to see a real vintage performance from him,” said Frank.
There are some who think Dillian Whyte might not even show up for the fight with Fury on April 23rd.
The WBC mandatory Whyte reportedly wasn’t happy with his purse split for the fight, and he didn’t show up for the first press conference.
Given the way Dillian pulled out of his last fight against Otto Wallin, there have to be some major concerns for the promoters of the event on whether he’ll show up on the night.
It would be wise for Fury’s management to have a backup that can step in and fight him on April 23rd in case Whyte chooses to bail on the contest.
Fury with a big decision to make
“I want to see him do what he wants to do because if he’s fighting and he’s not comfortable fighting, he doesn’t want to fight, then he shouldn’t be in the ring,” said Warren. “That’s him and any other boxer. It’s a dangerous place to be if you don’t want to be there.
“So provided he wants to fight on and carry on fighting, and he’ll make that decision after the 23rd of April, I’ll support him. If he doesn’t want to, then I’ll support him. He’s done brilliantly for British boxing, brilliantly for himself.
“Not just for boxing, as well for himself and for a person, who has been an example for people who have been through tough times.
“He completely turned his life around, and you’ve got to take your hat off to that. He’s a world champion for doing that. So whatever he chooses to do, we’re all behind him,” said Warren.