By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten heavyweight hopeful Jared ‘Big Baby’ Anderson returns to the ring this Saturday, July 1st when he takes on Former IBF Heavyweight Champion Charles Martin of St. Louis in Anderson’s hometown of Toledo, Ohio. The 10-rounder can be seen on the ESPN platform in America while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports Action and those in Canada can see it on TSN 5. Anderson last fought in April when he stopped George Arias after three rounds to defend his WBO International Heavyweight Title and win the vacant WBC USA Heavyweight Crown. Anderson had won the vacant WBO International Belt in his previous fight in December by stopping Jerry Forrest in the second round. Martin last saw action in September when he stopped Devin Vargas in the fourth round. Martin is a late replacement here for Zhan Kossobutskiy, who had to pull out of the fight due to visa problems.
‘Big Baby’ Anderson is just 23 years old and owns a perfect record of 14-0 with 14 Ko’s. He’s boxed just 31 rounds since making his pro debut in 2019 and that’s obviously because he owns a 100 per cent knockout ratio. He enjoyed a successful amateur career and won the 2017 and 2018 U.S. National Championships. Understandably, he’s being brought along slowly in the pro ranks but 13 of his 14 opponents have entered the ring with a winning record with two of them, George Arias and Vladimir Tereshkin being undefeated at the time.
Anderson won the vacant NABF Jr. Heavyweight Title in October, 2021 when he stopped Tereshkin in the second round. He stands 6-feet-4-inches tall with a 78.5-inch reach but isn’t the quickest or most fluid heavyweight out there but does have a steady, effective jab to accompany his power and he certainly has the power and determination to make his mark in the division. He’s taking a slight step up in class this weekend again as he works his way up the ladder to taking on some higher-ranked heavyweights. Anderson enters the fight ranked seventh by the WBO, eighth by the WBA, and ninth by the WBC.
The 37-year-old Martin is a southpaw who enters the contest with a mark of 29-3-1 with 26 Kos. He won the vacant IBF title against Vyacheslav Glazkov in January, 2016 when Glazkov suffered a knee injury in the third round. The title was vacant after it was stripped from Tyson Fury for failing to defend his crown against Glazkov. However, Martin was stopped in the second round by Anthony Joshua in his first defence of the belt just three months later. Martin has good size at 6-feet-5-inches and an 80-inch reach, which gives him an inch advantage in height and a 1.5-inch edge in reach on Anderson, and he’d also rather stop his opponent than go to the scorecards.
He does have a pretty good jab and isn’t a bad combination puncher but he’s gotten this far in his career due to his power. And that power is pretty evident as 26 of his 29 wins have come by stoppage. This gives him a current knockout ratio of 79 per cent. Of course on the down side, Martin’s chin is somewhat questionable though as his first and third pro defeats were by stoppage to Joshua in the second round in 2016 and to Luis Ortiz in the sixth round of a slugfest in January, 2022 after he had Ortiz down in the first and fourth rounds.
Martin’s second pro loss came at the hands of Adam Kownacki via a close 10-round unanimous decision in 2018. Since Martin’s fights rarely go the distance it means he’s fought just 115 rounds in 33 fights since turning pro in 2012. His lone draw was a four-round affair with Alvaro Morales back in 2013.Martin has struggled when stepping up in class but also has wins against the likes of Gerald Washington, Vincent Thompson, Joey Dawejko, Glendy Hernandez, Tyyab Beale, Alexander Flores, Raphael Zumbano, Damon McCreary, Tom Dallas, Byron Polley and Michael Marrone. Martin also won the vacant WBO NABO Heavyweight title with his fourth-round stoppage of Flores in 2014 and defended it four times.
Prediction…
This should be Anderson’s toughest pro test so far as Martin can bang with the best of them. However, he is 37 years old, is a late replacement with less than two-week’s notice and doesn’t have the greatest punch resistance out there. Anderson is also 14 years younger than Martin but recently stated he’s not really boxing for the love of the sport. Martin’s only chance here is to nail Anderson with something big early in the fight and see how his chin holds up. The more likely scenario though is Anderson stopping him but it could be a barn burner for however long it lasts.
