This is our preview of Jared Anderson vs Ryad Merhy – you can click here for a full report and scorecards on how ‘Real Big Baby’ claimed a dominant victory.
Exciting heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson bids to take another step in his much-hyped development on Saturday night vs tough Belgian Ryad Merhy in Corpus Christi, Texas.
‘Big Baby’ (16-0 with 15 wins inside the distance), who hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent weeks, is back to doing what he does best – knocking other big men out.
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Anderson has looked terrific in his career so far in the paid ranks – mixing speed, power and freakish athleticism to form a potent mix in boxing’s marquee weight class.
Saturday night should give him a stern test against the durable Merhy (32-2) and all you need to know about the big night.
Watch Anderson vs Merhy live
The fight will air on ESPN, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes in the United States, and it will also be available to UK fight fans as part of their normal Sky Sports subscriptions. It will air on Sky Sports Main Event and on Sky Sports Action.
When does the fight start?
Ring walks for the main event are expected to be at around 10pm local time (CST), which is 11pm on the East Coast and 8pm PST on the West Coast.
If you are watching in the UK, expect Anderson and Merhy to make their ring walks around 4am on Sunday morning (April 14). Coverage of the show begins a little earlier at 2am. Time to set those alarms.
Anderson vs Merhy weights
The weigh-in took place in Texas on Friday and here are the full details.
‘Big Baby’ weighed in at 239.5lbs for his last outing – a stoppage of Andrii Rudenko last August. He was 11lbs heavier here, at 250.9lbs.
Merhy meanwhile came in at 229.5lbs for his most recent fight – an impressive split decision win over 2016 Olympic champion Tony Yoka. He was six pounds heavier at 235.6lbs here.
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The co-feature pits Nigerian Top Rank heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba vs Guido Vianello, and Vianello (244.5lbs) was three pounds heavier than Ajagba (241.2lbs).
Latest odds
Anderson unsurprisingly is a very hot favourite at 1/5, with 11/2 underdog and the draw a 20/1 shot.
Anderson vs Merhy undercard
There is plenty more heavyweight interest on the undercard with highly-rated Nigerian Efe Ajagba (19-1) also in action as he faces Italian Guido Vianello (12-1-1).
