By Brian Webber: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was sky-high after witnessing the 23-year-old heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs) obliterating 39-year-old journeyman Andriy Rudenko (35-7, 21 KOs) with an avalanche of unanswered blows in the fifth round last Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
Arum made it clear about the future of Jared Anderson, saying he’ll be back this year and that he’s going to be “the top, top guy in the heavyweight division.”
Is Jared Anderson the next great American heavyweight?
With the right match-making, Arum can potentially turn Jared Anderson into the next great American super. Look at what Floyd Mayweather Jr. has done with Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. Floyd has matched Tank wisely, putting him in with exclusively beatable opposition, swerving A-level fighters, and he’s become a massive PPV superstar.
What Mayweather proved with Gervonta is that you can take a good fighter and turn them into a mega-star if you match them in a certain way.
It’s going to be more difficult for Arum to replicate what Mayweather has done with Tank Davis to turn the 6’3″ Jared Anderson into a similar type of star because there’s not a WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title to protect him from the killers in the division.
Floyd has arguably used the WBA ‘regular’ 135-lb belt as foxhole to protect Gervonta Davis from fighting the likes of Shakur Stevenson, Vasily Lomachenko, and Frank Martin. Essentially, Tank Davis = manufactured product to make money.
Arum will have a more difficult time protecting Jared Anderson from the predators that could expose him as being a similar hype job now that the WBA ‘regularr’ heavyweight title has been eliminated.
Still, if Anderson can get his hands on one of the heavyweight titles, he could match in a way where he won’t need to face anyone of quality for years.
Look at how Tyson Fury has milked his WBC title since winning it in 2020. He’s fought British journeymen Dillian Whyte & Dereck Chisora, making a bundle from those fights, and now he’s fighting Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion.
Anderson’s stated plans on retiring by the age of 27 mean he can maneuver around the dangerous fighters for the next four years to make him the next great American superstar without fighting anybody good.
Interestingly, Arum didn’t seem all that excited about his recent addition to his Top Rank company, 2020 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov (13-0, 13 KOs), who looked more impressive than Anderson, knocking out Onoriode Ehwarieme (20-3, 19 KOs) in the first round last Saturday night on the same card at the Hard Rock.
The 6’7″ Jalolov dropped Ehwarieme three times in the fight before referee Gerald Ritter stopped the slaughter at 2:06 of the first round. As talented as Jalolov is, he’s not American.
From the way that Arum was talking, it appears that they plan on trying to make a superstar out of Jared Anderson, not Jalolov, who, at this stage, looks like the better fighter.
In a perfect world, Arum would match Jared Andersson with dangerous heavyweights like Jalolov and Arslanbek Makhmudov to prove himself worthy of being the next great American heavyweight superstar.
That’s not likely to happen, though, as those guys could wreck things for Jared, exposing him to the light of day.
Anderson being groomed for stardom
Question: “Impressive performance. You got the stoppage. Did you come out here looking to do anything specific or anything you were trying to work on, or what was the plan?” said Michael Kinney Media.
Jared Anderson: “I was trying to be myself. That was what I was trying to do specifically. Stay true to myself, fighting-wise and personality-wise
Bob Arum: “This year isn’t over,” said Arum on Anderson returning for another fight this year.
Anderson: “We may have some time to get some more in.”
Arum: “You will.”
Anderson: “I’m healthy. As you can see, unblemished with my facial and my hands are fine. As long as I’m healthy, we can keep working.”
Kinny Media: “Bob, your thoughts on [Bakhodir] Jalolov, a 2020 Olympian gold medalist? Obviously, there’s history there with him and Richaard Torrez Jr. What were your thoughts tonight on the debut of Jalolov?
Arum: “I thought he [Jalolov] looked terrific, but nobody looked as good as the guy on my left here [Jared Anderson]. He was something really special. He fought a really tough guy [39-year-old Andriy Rudenko]. He fought a really tough guy.
“This guy, you can hit him over the head with a hammer. So, he looked extraordinarily well. Jared is, forget about all these foreigners. They’re great fighters, but we have an American here that’s going to be the top, top guy in the heavyweight division.”
