Jared Anderson vs Ryad Merhy on Saturday night in Texas sees the return of perhaps the most exciting young heavyweight in the world right now.
Anderson, also known as ‘Real Big Baby’ has looked terrific in building a 16-0 pro resume with 15 of those successes coming inside distance.
The Top Rank prospect takes another step up on Saturday night when he faces tough Belgian Merhy (32-2) in a fascinating 10-round showdown to top the ESPN show in Corpus Christi. Anderson though has not been without his problems recently, with legal issues punctuating the build-up to his first fight of 2024.
The undercard is topped by another Top Rank heavyweight prospect – Nigerian Efe Ajagba (19-1) taking on Italian Guido Vianello (12-1-1) in another intriguing 10-rounder.
Weigh-in results
The weigh-in took place in the Lone Star State on Friday, and Ajagba and Vianello were first to the scales with the Italian coming in at 244.5lbs – three pounds heavier than Ajagba (241.2lbs).
Next it was the main event, with the eagerly anticipated return of that man Anderson, and he scaled an official weight of 250.9lbs – 11lbs heavier than for his last outing against Andrii Rudenko last August. Merhy meanwhile officially scaled 235.6lbs – 15lbs lighter than the ‘Real Big Baby’.
TV channel and ring walks
Saturday’s show will air on ESPN, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes in the US with ring walks expected at 10pm local time (11pm Eastern Standard Time, 8pm PST on the West Coast).
Sky Sports will broadcast the show in the UK, with ring walks for the main event starting at 4am on Sunday. Full coverage starts at 2am.
