Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson takes center stage in front of his hometown crowd on Saturday, July 1 at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio where he faces Zhan Kossobutskiy of Kazakhstan. The pair squares off in the scheduled for 10 rounds heavyweight bout live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
Anderson formally announced his upcoming fight at the press conference held at Glass City Pavilion in Toledo. He was joined by Hall of Fame Promoter and Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and Toledo-born first responder DeAndre Ware, who will see action on the undercard.
Tickets for the event can be purchased through TicketNetwork, StubHub and Vivid Seats.
This is what the participants had to say:
Jared Anderson
“I’m happy to be here. I’m feeling so loved and embraced here. It means everything to me. I plan to put on a great show. I plan to show the kids and the city that we are still fighting and are one of the biggest small cities in the nation. The world will know us.”
“I’ve been in the gym going crazy. As you can see, my body shows it. My fights show it. My power shows it. I’m going to keep pushing and stay on track so that this train keeps going.”
“I’m super excited. I’m happy to see all the familiar faces and all the friends and family. The cameras are good and all, but I’m doing this for the city. I’m doing this for the people that are here. I’m doing this for the people that don’t have phones in their hand and are out there in the world right now fighting to survive. I’ve been fighting to survive for a long time. Now that I don’t have to do that, I want to show you all that hopefully you won’t have to do that, too. Just keep fighting. Keep striving to be better and you will get there for sure.”
Bob Arum
“I’m happy to be here because this is Jared Anderson’s hometown. We told him that one day he would fight his first main event here in Toledo. Jared is here. And just because he’s here doesn’t mean that he gets a piece of cake. He is fighting a very, very tough competitor because we believe that Jared will be the future heavyweight champion of the world. But to do that, he’s got to fight really tough guys. And we’ve gotten him an opponent from Kazakhstan who is 19-0 with 18 knockouts.”
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz
“This is beyond exciting. It builds upon an underrated boxing history in Toledo. Right across the river, maybe a quarter of a mile down, Jack Dempsey won his heavyweight crown. Here in Toledo, the golden age of boxing began on July 4, 1919. Muhammad Ali fought here. George Foreman fought here. We’ve got a proud boxing tradition, but there is nothing more special that rallying behind one of our own. Toledo backs its own. And we can’t wait for Jared to fight.”
DeAndre Ware
“I remember boxing at the PAL. Back then, you were a little guy. We used to get on you all the time. Then you got older and started sparring. I used to put my mouthpiece out there and say, ‘you can’t knock it out my mouth.’ I can’t do that anymore. I’m proud of you, Jared. I thank you for this opportunity. I’m thankful for fighting here in front of my friends, fans and family. I’m happy.”
In Australia, Anderson vs Kossobutskiy airs live on Sunday, July 2.
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