Top Rank-promoted heavyweight contender Jared Anderson claims he learned his lesson from his latest arrest, which involved a six-mile high-speed police chase. Interestingly, the 24-year-old Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs) doesn’t have regrets about it.
Top Rank’s Decision: Cut or Coach?
He assigns the blame on his youth. Still 24, you wonder what Anderson will do next if it’s time for Top Rank to jettison him in search of a more dialed-in, mature heavyweight prospect they can pour their energy and money into.
Anderson’s recent performance against 38-year-old Charles Martin showed that he’s not the fighter that Top Rank thought he was, and they’ve since pulled him back to fighting tomato cans after that close call.
That fight showed that Martin has major flaws in his game and could be a pure waste of time for Top Rank. They can’t keep him fighting lesser opposition his entire career to protect him unless their goal is to look for that one huge cash-out against one of the British heavyweights, Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua, and then dump him after he’s destroyed.
Assuming Top Rank are grooming Anderson intending to prepare him to take over as future heavyweight world champion when the aging Fury and Joshua retire, it could be futile. The way Anderson struggled against Martin, he doesn’t look cut out to be a world champion unless he’s protected and maneuvered around the dangerous contenders.
Excuses 101
“I’m human. I’m 24. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s not going to be my last mistake.” Jared Anderson told ESPN about his recent arrest. “I hope it’s my last mistake that involves me being arrested.
“I wouldn’t say I regret it, you know, lesson learned. I try to live my life with no regrets. It’s not really going to derail my career. It is just an eye-opener to make me push harder.”
Anderson will return to the ring next month on April 13, fighting little-known Ryad Merhy in a 10-round headliner on ESPN+ at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
This isn’t a step forward for Anderson but a lateral move from his recent opponent, Andriy Rudenko.