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America's Next Great Heavyweight?
USA Boxing Nationals Champion Jared Anderson
Christmas came early for Jared Anderson, who not only won
the heavyweight title at the recent USA Boxing National
Championships, the 18-year-old also captured the Most
Outstanding Boxer Award in the Elite Division.
Seeded No. 7 in eight-boxer field at The Nationals,
Anderson, in order, defeated No. 2 Jesus Flores in the
opening round, 5-0, edged No. 3 Adrian Tillman in the
semifinals, 3-2, and upset five-time national champion Cam
F. Awesome, 5-0, in the championship final.
In USA Boxing's most recently listed heavyweight ratings
(Nov. 17, 2017), Tillman and Awesome are ranked No. 1 and 2,
respectively, Flores is No. 5, and Anderson is unranked.
"I think that's going to change," Anderson noted. "Winning
the heavyweight title and Most Outstanding Boxing Award
meant the world to me. Maybe some people had never heard of
me, but I've been boxing since I was eight, and I've faced a
lot of different styles.
"I had a vendetta going with Tillman and, instead of boxing,
I tried to take his head off. Simple work allowed me to beat
Awesome. He is a good fighter. Cam does what he wants in the
ring -- throws jabs, sits there and builds up points - and
intimidates some opponents. I took the fight to him. Not
wild, though, because he'd have been there in the ring, calm
and smiling, and I would have lost. I used my jab more than
anything against him."
One of 11 siblings in two households, Anderson is another
USA Boxing success story. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio,
Anderson was constantly getting into trouble in school and
boxing eventually saved him. His mother convinced her son to
meet a local boxing coach, who introduced Jared to boxing,
drilling discipline into him, something Jared desperately
needed at that point in his young life.
Boxing in Toledo has also aided his overall development in
boxing. "We push each other," Anderson explained. "We
support each other and perfect our crafts. There's a lot of
support here at all the gyms in Toledo."
Anderson represented Team USA at this past August's 2017
Bradenburg Cup in Frankfurt, Germany, at which Anderson won
the heavyweight title, as well as the Most Outstanding Boxer
Award, which should have been a warning for other leading
U.S. heavyweights.
As a young boxer, Anderson admired three legends who were
all products of USA Boxing, U.S. Olympians and Olympic medal
winners: 1. Sugar Ray Leonard - "Fast hands, speed, a
phenomenal boxer." 2. Evander Holyfield - "A warrior who
could bang or box. Moved up successfully from cruiserweight
to heavyweight." 3. Muhammad Ali -- "Not just because he was
a great boxer, but more so because of his life."
Right now, Anderson stand 6' 2 and weighs 200 lbs., but he's
only 18 and should continue growing even larger. Ultimately,
he wants to be heavyweight champion of the world, but Jared
does have a plan.
"I want to stay as active as possible next year, competing
in tournaments, and turn pro but not until after the (2020)
Olympics," Anderson concluded. "I'm not turning pro until
after the (2020) Olympics. I want to win a gold medal, turn
pro and win the world heavyweight title, so I can move my
mother out of the 'hood."
Remember the name, boxing fans, Jared Anderson has the
potential to be America's next great heavyweight.
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