Former welterweight world champion turned analyst Shawn Porter has branded Jared Anderson a future world champion – but he wants the 23-year-old to work on his defensive movement.
The Ohio native recently scored a knockout over Andriy Rudenko, taking his stoppage tally to 15 from 16 wins. Undefeated and on the rise, Anderson is the hottest heavyweight prospect in the world of boxing.
Speaking on his podcast, Porter praised Anderson for his activity having just seen out his third fight of the year and with at least one more in the works.
He then branded him the future of heavyweight boxing in the States.
“Same issues. He looked great. And he is the next world champion heavyweight from America … That boy’s body attacks for a heavyweight are sexy. He’s it.”
Porter went on to identify a major issue with Anderson’s work that he would like to see him rectify before facing the division’s top dogs.
“I want somebody working on his head movement, and you gotta get rid of that pulling straight back. He’s so athletically gifted, that that’s just his athleticism. He can get away, but I’ve been saying this for two years now about that specific move that he does – while it works, it works against lower class fighters.
You gotta work on something else now, cause when you gotta go to it, you gotta go to it. He gonna have to start moving that head, stepping around, pivoting – it’s all stuff he can do, it’s just now it’s gotta be drilled. You can’t do it.”
Anderson’s confidence in his attacks and punch resistance does lead him to move back in a straight line.
His lack of guard was identified by Charles Martin in the fight before last – the former world champion making it through with a straight left that saw Anderson shook for the first time in his short career. He would go onto win a unanimous decision.
With that worked on, Porter believes ‘Big Baby’ is ready for the likes of Joe Joyce in 2024.
Anderson himself has been keen to avoid calling out any fighter in particular, and is open about his motivations in the sport being get in, make money, and get out.