Jared Anderson will return to the ring just eight weeks after winning the toughest fight of his career.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the undefeated heavyweight contender will face Ukrainian veteran Andrii Rudenko on August 26 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ESPN will televise Anderson-Rudenko as a 10-round main event that night from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
ESPN.com’s Mike Coppinger first reported Tuesday afternoon that the Anderson-Rudenko fight was finalized.
The 6-foot-4, 243-pound Anderson (15-0, 14 KOs) went the distance for the first time in his career July 1. Former IBF champion Charles Martin took the young knockout artist 10 rounds in that bout, which ESPN aired from Huntington Center in Anderson’s hometown of Toledo, Ohio.
The hard-hitting Anderson dropped Martin late in the third round, but Martin got up and remained dangerous right up until the final bell. The powerful southpaw, who took that difficult fight on only 11 days’ notice, buzzed Anderson with left hands during the fifth round and again toward the end of the 10th round.
The 23-year-old Anderson impressed Martin, though, with his power, resilience, skill and toughness during a main event Anderson won by unanimous decision. Judges Dave DeJonge (99-90), Mike Fitzgerald (99-91) and Ben Rochester (99-90) scored nine rounds apiece for Anderson, whose previous six fights each ended within three rounds.
The 37-year-old Martin (29-4-1, 26 KOs) replaced Kazakhstan’s Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs) as Anderson’s opponent on short notice because Kossobutskiy couldn’t obtain a visa in time to travel to the United States.
The shorter, lighter Rudenko (35-6, 21 KOs) isn’t considered as dangerous as the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Martin, but Anderson was expected to face a lesser opponent August 26 once the possibility of this quick return was first mentioned by his promoter, Bob Arum.
The 39-year-old Rudenko has, however, taken WBO interim champ Zhilei Zhang, former WBA champ Alexander Povetkin, unbeaten contender Agit Kabayel, Hughie Fury and Lucas Browne the distance in five of his six defeats. Zhang, Kabayel, Fury and Browne were all undefeated when Rudenko lost to them.
Rudenko lost by knockout two fights ago for the first time since he made his pro debut in October 2006. Undefeated Ukrainian Vladyslav Sirenko (19-0, 16 KOs) stopped Rudenko in the sixth round of that December 2021 bout.
Assuming the heavily favored Anderson defeats Rudenko and isn’t injured in the process, he is expected to fight a fourth time in 2023 at some point in November.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.