Top heavyweight prospect Jared “Big Baby” Anderson will return to the ring on April 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas, to face Ryad Merhy in an ESPN main event, Mike Coppinger reports.
The 24-year-old Anderson (16-0, 15 KO) will be making his 2024 debut in what will be his first fight since August, after hitting the ring three times last year for wins over George Arias, Charles Martin, and Andriy Rudenko.
The Toledo native stopped Arias and Rudenko and won a 10-round decision over Martin.
Merhy (32-2, 26 KO) is a 31-year-old Belgian and natural cruiserweight who moved up to the heavyweight ranks in 2022 and is 2-1. He lost a “bridgerweight” fight to Kevin Lerena in South Africa in May 2023, but rebounded to be the latest guy to beat Tony Yoka in France on Dec. 9.
Merhy is a former WBA secondary titleholder at cruiserweight, with the other loss in his career coming against Arsen Goulamirian in 2018.