Jared Anderson‘s quick rise was halted by Martin Bakole‘s thudding shots.
The Ohio-born heavyweight was tipped as America’s next world champion in the division, his slick movement and eye for an early finish seeing him through his first 14 fights undefeated with all knockouts.
He had a tougher time in his next bout against Charles Martin but scored a unanimous decision before beating Andriy Rudenko and Ryad Merhy in more straightforward fashion.
Then came the opportunity to fight Martin Bakole on Riyadh Season’s first US show. Anderson looked quickly out of his depth, his shots bouncing off the Congolese heavyweight like raindrops.
When Bakole unloaded things were very different. He dropped Anderson in the first round and finished things in the fifth with two more heavy knockdowns before the referee stepped in. With hindsight many saw it was too much too soon for the 24-year-old. Bob Arum knew it before the first bell.
Speaking to Maestro A, the veteran promoter said that matchmaking was not down to him and that the defeat means starting over.
“That fight was unfortunate. That’s what happens when a fighter, who you’re promoting and your matchmakers are moving correctly, is contacted by somebody else, offered a tremendous amount of money and insists to us he wants to take the money.
We would never have booked him with Bakole at this point because he wasn’t ready for that. You can’t fight Bakole by out-slugging him. He’s a very powerful guy, takes a good punch and he has a dynamite punch. Only way you can beat Bakole is to outbox him. You have to move. Jared hadn’t learned that at this point. So, he made the money. I told him we gotta start again and I’m optimistic that the next chapter will be better.”
Anderson has taken the loss well, making no excuses, and Arum’s vast knowledge of the sport will no doubt help him build back better.
