Jared Anderson got the job done against Ryad Merhy on Saturday night in Texas, winning the heavyweight encounter via a unanimous decision.
In the 10-round bout, the 24-year-old came away on top by a clear margin on the scorecards, with margins of 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91.
Merhy (32-3, 26 KOs) spent the fight employing a tactic of not engaging, throwing just 144 punches over the course of the fight.
Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs), however, went into the fight with an aggressive mindset, landing 128 of 662 punches, including 49 power blows
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A look at what to expect from American hard-hitting heavyweight Anderson as his career continues
Following his win, Anderson said: “Another day, another night in the office. I wanted to give the fans a better show, but what can you do when they show up to fight like him. It’s just another day in the office. We’re going to continue working.
“I stayed sharp for 10 rounds. That’s the biggest takeaway. I got to make some changes. I made some mistakes. I got hit with a few punches. I shouldn’t have gotten hit at all because he didn’t even come here to fight.
“I want all of the names. If I’m ranked with you and your name is near mine, then we can get it crackin’. We’re coming to knock everybody off.”
Prior to the fight, Top Rank’s Bob Arum told Sky Sports of their game plan for Anderson to be battling to be the heavyweight champion by 2026.
If Anderson keeps on going about his business, his promoters, Top Rank, expect to see him fighting for world titles
“He’ll have three fights this year, the second fight we’re planning for Toledo, Ohio, which is Jared’s hometown,” he said.
“Then next year, 2025, I hope to have him fight with all the top contenders. So by the end of 2025, the beginning of 2026, he is the inevitable challenger for the heavyweight title and I hope that at that point he’s ready to become the heavyweight champion.
“We don’t want him to get in and fight a title fight, and win the title fight, and then not have the maturity to defend that title.
“Because of his relatively young age, it will be a long title reign. That’s our hope.”
Elsewhere, Nigerian heavyweight contender Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) earned a 10-round split decision over Italy’s Guido Vianello (12-2-1, 10 KOs), plus Brazilian Olympic gold medallist Robson Conceiçao (18-2-1, 9 KOs) scored his first victory in two years by stopping Jose Guardado (15-2-1, 5 KOs) in the seventh round.
Efe Ajagba earned a 10-round split decision in his heavyweight bout
The undercard also saw middleweight Julian Delgado win on his professional debut in front of his hometown crowd against Juan Tamez (1-1), while Ruben Villa IV (22-1, 7 KOs) moved one step closer to a second world title shot by decisioning Cristian Cruz (22-7-1, 11 KOs).
Watch Fury vs Usyk live on Sky Sports Box Office on May 18.
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