Jared Anderson training hard for upcoming return

HOUSTON, TEXAS – The return of Jared “Real Big Baby” Anderson is quickly approaching, and he won’t have to travel far for his August 27 fight. Anderson is holding his training camp at home in the Houston area as he prepares for his first fight of the year.

The 22-year-old will challenge ten year pro Miljan Rovcanin of Serbia in a 10-round bout at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla. The fight will serve as a co-feature to the junior lightweight contest between Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey and be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.

While Anderson has traveled to Las Vegas for his recent camps, he made the decision to change things up and train at his home gym, the J Prince Boxing Gym in Houston. Anderson has remained active while he recovered from injury and has enjoyed the chance to work with the youngsters in the gym throughout the spring and early summer. He recently participated in a special back to school camp for kids in the area as he kicked off his own training camp. Anderson resumed full training earlier this summer and his lifelong coach Daryl Riley joined him last month for his Texas-based camp.

An additional perk of training in Houston is the chance to hold his camp alongside close friend, unified super featherweight world champion Shakur Stevenson, who is preparing for his September 23 Newark homecoming. The two, who have known each other since their amateur days, are providing extra motivation to one another during their grueling training sessions.

Anderson, a Toledo native, made the move to Houston nearly two years ago. Viewed as one of the top heavyweight prospects in the world due to his undefeated record and perfect knockout percentage, the 22-year-old’s success has caught the attention of Houston’s legendary heavyweight, George Foreman. Anderson and Coach Riley recently got the opportunity to meet Foreman and are looking forward to a gym visit soon from the two-time heavyweight world champion and 1968 Olympic gold medalist.

The upcoming bout will be Anderson’s first since a second round TKO over Oleksandr Teslenko on December 11 at Madison Square Garden. He will be fighting in Tulsa for the second time as a professional. Anderson scored a second round knockout over Jeremiah Karpency at the Osage Casino in Tulsa in April of last year.