Heavyweight champion Jared Anderson will fight Marios Kollias on February 14th at the Hula Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City · Keyshawn Davis vs. Denys Berinchyk in the undercard match.

Lance Pugmore @pugboxing broke the news about “Big Baby” Anderson fighting Kollias in the Keyshawn-Berinchyk undercard match. This is a relatively safe fight for the 25-year-old Anderson, but not entirely because he has been hurt by lower-level opponents more than once in his career.

Anderson must win

Not a great opponent for Jared Anderson, but he looked so bad in his last game that he didn’t look ready to face a world-class opponent. I don’t know if he’s going to be that guy, but that’s a question for Top Rank. At this point, Jared is what you would consider a project, and a volatile one at that.

This will be Anderson (17-1, 15 KOs)’s first fight since being knocked out in the fifth round by Martin Bakole on August 3 at BMO Arena in Los Angeles.

Not surprisingly, Top Rank chose an unknown fighter, pitting Jared against 33-year-old Greece native Kolias (12-3-1, 10 KOs). Anderson was defeated by Bakole in three knockouts, which was a crazy move for him against a contender. Anderson was knocked out by Bakole in the first round and twice more in the fifth round.

Jared looked great in rounds two through four and looked like he was in control until Bakool hurt him again in round five.

Should Top Rank abandon Jared if he loses?

If Anderson loses this fight, Top Rank may want to consider firing him. They were counting on Jared to be the next heavyweight star, but worrying signs emerged early when he was tripped by journeyman Jerry Forrest and then by former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin harm.

On November 16, Kollias defeated journeyman Tamaz Izoria via first-round knockout. Prior to that, he defeated Kem Ljungquist by a 10-round majority decision on March 9 last year.

In the main event, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) will challenge WBO lightweight champion Belinchik (19-0, 9 KOs). Top Rank is pushing the 25-year-old Keyshawn to step up his career and match up with Berinchyk, who is in his fourth year as a pro.

It might be a mistake for Top Rank to take Davis out so soon, as he has yet to fight the likes of 2012 Olympian Berinchyk and is coming off a tough fight against Nasher Orb Nahir Albright also had a poor performance in the game.

Keyshawn had no interest in fighting Cuban Andy Cruz, who had beaten and owned him four times in amateur competition. Davis is fine as long as Top Rank can protect him from strong opponents, but if they put him against someone with talent, he’ll likely fall apart again.