Jared Anderson walked away with the win against Ryad Merhy on Saturday, April 13. The Toledo native and former world champion of Belgium battled it out in the main event at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The heavyweight bout, that turned to be fairly uneventful, went the full distance. After 10 rounds the scores were 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91, all in favor of the representative of the country-host.
With the victory by unanimous decision, Houston-based Jared Anderson, who prior to the fight promised “the best version” of himself, improved to 17-0, 15 KOs. The 24-year-old made his first ring appearance for 2024 and remained undefeated.
Brussels, Belgium-based 31-year-old Ryad Merhy dropped to 32-3, 26 KOs. The Ivorian-born former WBA cruiserweight champion didn’t suceed in his U.S. debut.
“Another day, another night in the office,” Anderson said post-fight. “I wanted to give the fans a better show, but what can you do when they show up to fight like him. It’s just another day in the office. We’re going to continue working.
“I stayed sharp for 10 rounds. That’s the biggest takeaway. I got to make some changes. I made some mistakes. I got hit with a few punches. I shouldn’t have gotten hit at all because he didn’t even come here to fight.
“I want all of the names. If I’m ranked with you and your name is near mine, then we can get it crackin’. We’re coming to knock everybody off.”
In the co-feature on the card, Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) of Nigeria came out with the win against fellow-Olympian and former sparring partner Guido Vianello (12-2-1, 10 KOs) of Italy. After 10 rounds at heavyweight one judge scored the fight 96-94 in favor of Vianello, while two other judges had the same for Ajagba.
Among other results, Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao (18-2-1, 9 KOs) of Brazil dropped and stopped Mexico’s Jose Ivan Guardado Ortiz (15-2-1, 5 KOs) at junior lightweight. The official time was 2:27 into the seventh round.
Also on the card, local Julian Delga made his pro boxing debut with the win by unanimous decision against Juan C. Tamez (1-1) of Laredo, Texas. After four rounds at middleweight the scores were 40-36, 39-37, 40-36.
Ruben Villa (22-1, 7 KOs) of Salinas, California defeated Mexico’s Cristian Cruz Chacon (22-7-1, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision at featherweight. After 10 rounds the scores were 98-92, 97-93, 98-92.
Plus, John Rincon (9-0, 2 KOs) went through the ropes in front of his hometown crowd taking the win by majority decision against Cuban Yainiel Alvarez Telemaco (3-4-2, 1 KOs). After six rounders at welterweight the scores were 58-56, 57-57, 59-55.