Jared Anderson's perfect record came to a crashing halt in his 18th pro fight. The 24-year-old American prospect got knocked out by Martin Bakole in the fifth round.
Bakole proved too much for Anderson, who entered the ring with a 17-0 record. The dangerous heavyweight let Anderson's shots bounce off him before striking back with quick, heavy hands. Anderson hit the canvas three times before the referee waved it off.
ESPN reported that Bakole's performance showed why many consider him one of the division's most dangerous fighters.
After the fight, Anderson's promoter Bob Arum didn't hold back. He told the Big Fight Weekend podcast:
"I wasn't surprised Anderson lost in the 'stupid' match-up. It wasn't us. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh went right to the fighter and made this proposal for money that the fighter had never seen before and picked as his opponent, Bakole who is a tremendous puncher and Jared prepared to deal with a guy who couldn't move very much but was a great puncher and he never fought a guy like that. So the fact he got taken apart and got knocked out was not surprising."
Arum continued:
"Don't put it on my matchmakers. We were against that fight. Again, when they wave money at these kids, they insist on taking it. We could have gone to court to prevent it, but we don't do those kind of things. We let the fight go ahead. We made our money from the fight but we let that fight go ahead and it was the stupidest fight Jared could have taken."
Anderson responded to Arum's comments on social media, saying: "Hope this doesn't surprise y'all. We all know how he get down."
It's not clear when Anderson will return to the ring. Meanwhile, Bakole has been ordered to face Agit Kabayel next. The winner of that fight will earn a shot at the current IBF World Champion, Daniel Dubois.
