Jared Anderson and Charles Martin arrived lighter than was the case in each of their previous bouts.
Toledo’s Anderson tipped the scales at a fighting fit 243.4 pounds during Friday’s weigh-in as supervised by the Ohio Athletic Commission for his first homecoming and televised main event. The rising knockout artist will meet former IBF heavyweight titlist Charles Martin, who was 250 ½ pounds for their scheduled ten-round heavyweight contest Saturday at Huntington Center in Anderson’s hometown of Toledo, Ohio.
The matchup was made just twelve days ago, when Martin (29-3-1, 26KOs) agreed to step in when Kazakhstan’s Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18KOs) was unable to secure a visa in time to travel for the fight.
Martin was already in camp for a planned July 29 fight date versus Gurgen Hovhannisyan (4-0, 4KOs) and his conditioning showed on Friday. The 37-year-old southpaw was nearly ten pounds lighter than his previous outing, when Martin weighed 260 pounds in a fourth-round knockout of 2004 U.S. Olympian Devin Vargas last September 4 in Los Angeles.
Anderson (14-0, 14KOs) enjoys a quick turnaround for his debut as an ESPN headliner. The 23-year-old local hero stopped unbeaten George Arias inside of two rounds on an April 8 ESPN show from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Anderson was 247.4 pounds for that fight, his heaviest since an April 2021 knockout win in Tulsa.
The bout headlines a three-fight ESPN telecast which begins at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Arslanbek Makhmudov and Raphael Akperjiori collide in the evening’s co-feature, scheduled for ten rounds.
Makhmudov (16-0, 15KOs)—a 6’5 ½” Russian heavyweight based in Montreal—was 263.4 pounds, more than two pounds lighter than he was in a first-round knockout of Michael Wallisch last December 16 in Shawinigan, Canada. The bout was meant to come versus Akperjiori, who was not able to proceed at that time though both sides had varying takes on the exact reason for the delay.
Akperjiori (15-0, 14KOs) arrived Friday at a ready 255 ½ pounds. The 6’8” Nigerian heavyweight is now based out of Miami and trained by former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson.
Wedged in between the heavyweight bouts, Cleveland’s Abdullah Mason meets Brazil’s Alex de Oliveira in a scheduled six-round lightweight contest.
Mason (8-0, 7KOs) was 135.2 pounds for his third fight of 2023, all in the span of exactly three months. The visiting de Oliveira (20-4, 14KOs) was 136 ½ pounds for his third straight fight in the U.S.
ESPN+ Preliminary Undercard, 6:15 p.m. ET
Delante Johnson (8-0, 5KOs), Cleveland, 141.2 pounds vs. Jonathan Montrel (15-1, 10KOs), New Orleans, 140.6 pounds—8 rounds, junior welterweight
Dante Benjamin, Jr. (6-0, 4KOs), Cleveland, 173.3 pounds vs, Mirady Zola (4-2, 1KO), Canal Winchester, Ohio, 173.9 pounds—6 rounds, light heavyweight
Husam Al Mashhadi (6-0, 5KOs), Dearborn Heights, Michigan, 151.2 pounds vs. Rance Ward (7-5-1, 2KOs), Houma, Louisiana, 153.6 pounds—6 rounds, junior middleweight
Tyler McCreary (17-2-1, 8KOs), Toledo, 131 pounds vs. Deivi Julio (26-13, 16KOs), Monteria, Colombia, 130.9 pounds—6 rounds, junior lightweight
Jahi Tucker (10-0, 5KOs), Deer Park, New York, 151.8 pounds vs. Nicklaus Flaz (10-2, 7KOs), Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, 151.3 pounds—8 rounds, junior middleweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox