“Too Immature”: Shawn Porter, Claressa Shields, and Others Saddened as America’s Next Best Hope Jared Anderson Stopped by “New Age George Foreman” Martin Bakole

“I want to thank Big Baby for accepting a fight with me. I’m the most avoided heavyweight in the world,” said 6-foot-6 Congolese boxer Martin Bakole, as he celebrated his win against Jared Anderson.

Big Baby was US’ best hope of bringing back the heavyweight title to American shores. However, that was before the difference of power between the two gave Anderson a rude awakening at the Riyadh Season supercard in Los Angeles.

Bakole, 32, bagged the win with his brute strength. He employed his uppercut, followed by a powerful straight, which knocked down Anderson, 24, thrice to the mat. The annihilation, which started in the first round, ended only in the fifth when the referee stepped in to stop the action. The result also meant he left the arena as the WBO international heavyweight champion. So, how did it come to pass that one of American boxing’s future stars, Jared Anderson, suffered his first career loss?

Smaller, shorter but athletic Anderson focused on the body shots in the initial rounds, while the bigger and stationary target, Bakole, adopted a more aggressive approach with low guard. The latter didn’t care for the body shots landing on him, and he only looked for one finishing flow, which happened towards the end of the first round. Bakole’s right shocked Anderson, followed by an uppercut which dropped him to the canvas.

Notably, this was Bakole’s debut match in America. The 285 pound boxer has a record of 21-1, losing just once in his career to Michael Hunter. On the contrary, Johnson, almost 31 pounds lighter at 254, flaunted a stunning 17-0. But that was until his opponent realized he had the upper hand.

Once that happened, Bakole’s confidence shot up, while Anderson’s dwindled. The same story continued throughout the fight, where Bakole’s blows made Anderson wobbly on his feet, and he continued to break him down with his devastating power. Despite Anderson being the more active of the two, his bags of tricks proved to be lacking in negating his opponent’s power. The rights and uppercuts did the job in the fifth round, as Anderson found himself lying bamboozled and tangled in the ropes.

Almost painful to watch, the fight has captured the attention of many, mostly for the wrong reasons.

Bakole’s onslaught garners a flurry of reactions

Professional boxer-turned-sports commentator Shawn Porter, in a series of posts, referenced his previous comments where he pointed out the lack of experience for Anderson and declared, “WHAT DID I SAY BEFORE THIS FIGHT STARTED.” He added in a different post, “This is a wrap. Jared is too immature for Bakole. I’ll explain live in the podcast Monday night 6pm/pt.”

Last year, Porter had criticized Anderson’s techniques on his ‘The PorterWay’ podcast episodes. While rebranding the 24-year-old as the future of heavyweight boxing in America, the former boxer had said, “I want somebody working on his head movement, and you gotta get rid of that pulling straight back. He’s so athletically gifted, that’s just his athleticism. He can get away, but I’ve been saying this for two years now about that specific move that he does – while it works, it works against lower class fighters.”

“He gonna have to start moving that head, stepping around, pivoting – it’s all stuff he can do, it’s just now it’s gotta be drilled. You can’t do it,” he further added.

Jamel Herring also agreed with Porter’s opinions and mentioned Big Baby’s lackluster defenses, saying, “Jared can bounce back. What are y’all thoughts? He gotta tighten up his defense, a lot of those shots he took had a lot of heat on em.”

Tony Harrison couldn’t help but draw parallels with a veteran: “Bakole fight like the new age George Foreman.” For the uninitiated, one-time Olympic gold medalist (1968, Mexico City) George Foreman was in a league of his own. In a long and illustrious career spanning three decades, the veteran flaunts a near-perfect record of 76 wins (68 by KO), and 5 losses. The 6’4”, 240-plus lb giant, nicknamed ‘Big George’ was considered as one of the most daunting fighters in the world. So to be compared to the main man is already an achievement in itself, isn’t it?

On a separate note, Lamont Roach Jr, lauded Anderson for his big heart, while showering praise on Bakole’s power: “Damn slim, big heart from Jared I was with him. That mf Bakole a hard hitting big guy at HW.” 

Boxing veteran Claressa Shields, on the other hand, confidently said Anderson will bounce back after sustaining the first loss of his career. She wrote, “Anderson can bounce bac.”

Rosie Perez expressed her surprise when Bakole dropped Anderson for the first time towards the end of the first round. She penned, “Oh snap! Bakole dropped Baby!!!”

As for Martin Bakole, he’s not done yet. “I told you from the beginning I’m a machine…I’m here to take over. I want to be No. 1.”  Well, that easier said than done. Do you think Bakole’s power is really trouble for other heavyweights? Let us know in the comments below.