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Mike Coppinger, ESPN
A heavyweight fight between Jared “Big Baby” Anderson and Ryad Merhy is booked for April 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas, sources told ESPN on Friday.
Anderson, ESPN’s No. 8 heavyweight, last fought in August when he scored a fifth-round TKO victory over Andriy Rudenko. The 24-year-old from Toledo, Ohio, is widely considered America’s top heavyweight champion hopeful.
Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs) fought twice in 2023, also picking up victories over George Arias in March (TKO 3) and former heavyweight titleholder Charles Martin in July. The decision win over Martin was the lone time an Anderson opponent heard the final bell.
Merhy, a 32-year-old Ivory Coast native who fights out of Brussels, is coming off an upset split-decision win over Tony Yoka in December in Paris. The setback was Yoka’s third consecutive loss.
Merhy (32-2, 26 KOs) was coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Kevin Lerena at bridgerweight (225 pounds) when he scored the win that landed him this opportunity. The Anderson fight will be Merhy’s North American debut.
Merhy’s other defeat came in 2018 in his only full-fledged title opportunity, an 11th-round TKO to Arsen Goulamirian in a fight for the WBA cruiserweight belt Goulamirian still possesses.