Jared Anderson vs. Charles Martin – TONIGHT at 10:00 p.m. ET/ 7:00 p.m. PT LIVE on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+
The heavyweight hotshot, Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson, is coming home, but there’s a switch-up in the game. Visa issues sidelined Zhan Kossobutskiy, the undefeated champ from Kazakhstan, making room for the ex-world champion “Prince” Charles Martin to step up to the plate. The face-off is all set for Saturday, July 1, at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.
Fighting in the main event for the first time as a pro, 23-year-old Anderson has yet to go beyond the sixth round, having stopped five of his opponents in the first round and another five in the second round. In 2020, he garnered global attention as Tyson Fury’s primary sparring partner, but he is now carving his own path as he prepares to face the top names of the division. Martin, a 37-year-old St. Louis native, captured the IBF heavyweight world title in January 2016 with a third-round TKO over Vyacheslav Glazkov. Martin is coming off a fourth-round knockout against Devin Vargas last September in Los Angeles.
Rounding out the heavyweight doubleheader is the 10-round co-feature with Montreal-based wrecking ball Arslanbek Makhmudov (16-0, 15 KOs) taking on Nigeria’s Raphael Akpejiori. (15-0, 14 KOs).
The undercard streams exclusively on ESPN+.
Calling the action will be Andre Ward, a Hall of Famer and 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medalist, and Timothy Bradley Jr., a Class of 2023 Hall of Famer. Serving as reporters will be Mark Kriegel, Bernardo Osuna, and Crystina Poncher.
ANDERSON – MARTIN START TIME
- Date : Saturday July 1
- Time : 9 pm ET / 2 am BST (Sunday morning)
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 11pm ET / 4am BST
- The fight is being held at the Huntington Center, Toledo.
- Viewers in the US can watch the fight live on ESPN, In the UK, the event will be broadcast on Sky Sports.
- The broadcast of the main event is set to start at around 9pm ET / 2am BST, with the main event due to begin at around 11pm ET / 4am BST. These times are approximate and could change based on the length of the fights on the undercard.
“Prince” Charles Martin is fired up and ready to rumble. “I’m game for anyone, anytime, anywhere,” he hypes, “If it means snapping up a major chance on short notice, I’m in. If I can’t get the top dogs of my era in the ring, then I’ll take on the fresh blood. I’m eyeing that two-time heavyweight champion title, and that means toppling Jared Anderson.”
The stage is set for a crazy match-up. Anderson (14-0, 14 KOs) has been smashing it, going beyond three rounds only twice since his pro debut with a first-round KO in October 2019. Between April 2021 and December 2022, he swept up five consecutive second-round KOs, including a major W against the tough-as-nails Jerry Forrest. In April 2023, Anderson powered through with a third-round stoppage against the then undefeated George Arias.
Don’t sleep on Martin (29-3-1, 26 KOs) though. The 37-year-old heavyweight vet from St. Louis grabbed the IBF heavyweight world title in January 2016, landing a third-round TKO against Vyacheslav Glazkov. Despite losing his title to Anthony Joshua in less than three months, Martin has stayed in the game. Since the Joshua face-off, Martin holds a 6-2 record, including an unforgettable win against Gerald Washington in 2020. His latest victory was a fourth-round KO against Devin Vargas in Los Angeles last September.
A few polite words were exchanged before the official face-to-face photos, which guarantee an intense fight on Saturday night, starting with “Lion” Arslanbek Makhmudov:
“This is my goal, that’s my target, my dream, that’s why I started boxing when I was 9 years old. I have a lots of experience in amateur boxing that brought me to the professionals and I’m here to showcase that”.
“It’s a good opportunity to show my talent, and I’m ready to show that i’m ready for bigger guys, for top guys and to be closer to a championship fight”.
To which Akpejiori responded:
“This is the best guy I will have face in my career, he’s really good, I don’t care what everybody says, look at him, he’s a very seasoned professional boxer but you know, to be a champion, you need to beat or go through some fire and I have to put myself in line to go through that fire.”
“Saturday night, we will take it to the next level”
For Charles Martin, called up 11 days before the event, his return to Ohio was a good sign, as he had enjoyed nothing but success there;
“I won my amateur national championship here in Toledo before I turned professional, so I’m just coming back and reliving the experience that I had when I was here so it’s a good thing and I’m up for this challenge”
Jared Anderson wasn’t bothered by Martin’s comments implying another win for him, and instead promised a most entertaining fight ;
“You’ll see Jared Anderson, you’ll see a show from the time I walk out to the time I’m doing my post fight interview”.
The stage is now set for Saturday night’s fight, which will be preceded by the weigh-in tomorrow, Friday June 30, held live from the Hunington Center and broadcast live on Top Rank’s YouTube channel.
ANDERSON – MARTIN FIGHT CARD
- Jared Anderson vs. Charles Martin, 10 rounds, heavyweights
- Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Raphael Akpejiori, 10 rounds, heavyweight
- DeAndre Ware vs. Decarlo Perez, 6 rounds, super middleweights
- Tiger Johnson vs. Jonathan Montreal, 8 rounds, junior welterweights
- Abdullah Mason vs. Alex de Oliveira, 6 rounds, lightweights
- Tyler McCreary vs. Deivi Julio, 6 rounds, junior lightweights
- Dante Benjamin Jr. vs. Mirady Zola, 6 rounds, light heavyweights
- Husam Al Mashhadi vs. Rance Ward, 6 rounds, junior middleweights
- Jahi Tucker vs. Nicklaus Flaz, 8 rounds, junior middleweights