By Brian Webber: Heavyweight Jared Anderson is ready to show his fans how “great” he is tonight in his ten round fight against journeyman Andriy Rudenko (35-6, 21 KOs) on ESPN at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
Anderson (15-0, 14 KOs) is being given an easier foe by his promoters at Top Rank after his near-disastrous performance last July against Charles Martin.
Jared was wobbled twice by the 37-year-old Martin and out on his feet in the last 15 seconds after he raised his hands to start celebrating early.
Martin took advantage of Anderson’s early celebration by shaking him to his boots with a left hand that had him staggering drunkenly in the final seconds.
That performance made it necessary for Anderson to be matched against a lower-level opponent because he was not ready skill-wise or in terms of his maturity to face better opposition.
It’s essential that Jared Anderson show improvement because Top Rank has talented heavyweights who would be happy to be fighting in main-event slots.
Adorned with a thick gold chain, Jared surprised boxing fans this week by saying that he’s “broke” and needs to return to the ring. However, according to Idol Net Worth, Anderson’s net worth is $8 million, which begs the question, what did do with his money?
In the chief support fight, heavyweight Efe Ajagba (17-1, 13 KOs) fights Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs) in a ten round contest.
Saturday’s Anderson vs. Rudenko event will be shown on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
Jared Anderson: “This Saturday, you will see me sticking to my plan. I’ll be using my jab, my speed. I’m always willing to do whatever I need to do to win. And I will continue being who I am because I am great.
“My coaches have been training me like a little guy since I was eight years old. So, it kind of comes naturally to just move like I’m at a lighter weight.”
Andriy Rudenko: “I know that my opponent is one of the best heavyweight prospects right now. I will show you what my plans are for stopping him this Saturday in the ring.”
Anderson not handling criticism well
“If anything, it didn’t make me do nothing but chill even more because I’m already one not to be in it mentally, especially with my words,” said Anderson to Fighthype about the criticism that he received after his last performance against Charles Martin last July.
“So, it just made me want to go off under a rock again. My promoter and co-promoter they’ve been on top of me about staying active and staying relevant. So that’s why we’re here, that’s why we’re fighting. So they can see that my work is going to show rather than my words.
“Even if I had an excuse, I wouldn’t give it,” Jared said about his poor performance against Martin. “That’s now how we were raised. His father is an older man, just like my dad. My dad is 62, 63-years-old. So, even if we had an excuse, we wouldn’t give it.
“I did what I was supposed to do. I came out victorious in that fight. I’m happy the fight went the way it did, and we entertained people. I tip my hat to Charles Martin. He did his thing; he came well-prepared, and all the people talking in the comments and stuff.
“I can’t wait for him to fight again. He’s going to really show y’all about what he’s really about. I’ve been seeing him and following him. I follow him on Instagram. He really is staying in that gym.
“He’s staying constant, even after he fought me. He’s staying consistent. He really is making another run. I’m happy everybody doubted him and doubted me. I can’t wait for him to show what he’s got coming, and I’m going to keep climbing the ranks and doing what I got to do,” said Anderson.
