Alalshikh planning Wilder-Anderson for Aug. 3 mega card in L.A.
Former WBC heavyweight titlist first must beat Zhang on June 1
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Former longtime WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder could find himself facing top up-and-coming contender Jared Anderson this summer in a fight that comes out of nowhere.
Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian government official, who is the point person responsible for the massive budget for the boxing events the country backs, on Monday posted a photo of him with Anderson on social media and wrote he that his intention is to make a fight between Wilder and Anderson.
He said he plans to add it to the already-loaded mega card headlined by pound-for-pound king and unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford moving up to junior middleweight to challenge Israil Madrimov for his WBA title on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angles.
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Wilder, however, first must come though what appears to be a 50-50 fight against Zhilei Zhang in their “5 vs. 5” bout on the undercard of the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol fight for the undisputed light heavyweight title on June 1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“The talented Jared Anderson is with us now on August 3rd Riyadh Season card at LA against the ‘Bronze Bomber’ Deontay Wilder — if he’s ready by then to fight after 1st of June’s fight against Zhilei Zhang,” Alalshikh wrote. “I always believe that boxing would be at its peak when you have young American heavyweights like Jared Anderson which I also believe in his talent and his promising future. My advice to him ‘Focus on your future, training, and commitment and you will reach to your goals.’ Happy to collaborate with Top Rank again. Riyadh Season card 3rd of August in LA, will be one for the history!”
Wilder and Zhang, two of the biggest punchers in boxing, are both coming off upset decision losses to former titlist Joseph Parker.
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs), 38, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, looked dreadful losing to Parker on Dec. 23, which ruined an already signed fight with Anthony Joshua, who did his part in the main event that night in stopping Otto Wallin.
Shelly Finkel, Wilder’s manager, told Fight Freaks Unite on Monday night that their side wants the fight with Anderson but that they aren’t going to look past a dangerous opponent in Zhang.
“We’re focused on June 1 but if everything goes the way we expect it to go, and there are no injuries, and Turki wants us to fight Jared Anderson, that will probably happen,” Finkel said.
Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs), 40, a New Jersey-based southpaw from China, dropped Parker twice on March 8 but lost a majority decision and the WBO interim title.
The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs), 24, of Toledo, is coming off a near-shutout of the unwilling Ryad Merhy on April 13 in a fight in which Merhy gave virtually no effort. He landed on a measly 34 of 144 punches, according to CompuBox statistics. Merhy’s desultory 144 punches thrown were the third-fewest in a 10-round fight in the 39-year history of CompuBox, which has tracked thousands of fights in all divisions.
After the fight, Top Rank said it planned to bring Anderson back to Toledo for another hometown fight but that obviously won’t happen if he winds up facing Wilder.
Anderson is dealing with the legal fallout from a February arrest for allegedly fleeing from police and leading them on a six-mile high-speed chase with speeds reaching more than 130 mph before he crashed his Dodge Challenger into a median and was arrested. Anderson was charged with third-degree felony fleeing police and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
The Aug. 3 fights were announced at a news conference last week in New York. Besides Crawford-Madrimov and the possible Wilder-Anderson fight, it also will include:
WBA junior welterweight titlist Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz’s first defense against Jose Valenzuela.
Former junior middleweight titlist Tim Tszyu against Vergil Ortiz Jr. for the vacant WBA interim title.
Former unified heavyweight titlist Andy Ruiz coming back from a 23-month layoff to face Jarrell Miller.
David Morrell, the WBA “regular” super middleweight titlist, moving up in weight to fight “Hot Rod” Radivoje Kalajdzic for the vacant WBA “regular” light heavyweight belt.
Andy Cruz, a 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist and one of boxing’s elite prospects, against veteran Antonio Moran in a lightweight fight.
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Photo: Turki Alalshikh social media
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Sweet
Anybody read anything about who's officially promoting this card and who's carrying the ppv stateside?