Jared Anderson vs Zhan Kossobutskiy headlines July 1st ESPN card in Toledo

Jared Anderson’s first ESPN main event will be a home game, as Mike Coppinger reports that “Big Baby” will face Zhan Kossobutskiy on July 1st in his native Toledo, Ohio.

Injury held the generally very busy Anderson (14-0, 14 KO) to just two fights in 2022, so a three-month turnaround is a nice return to form. He’s 17 days removed from his last bout, a three-round beatdown of fellow unbeaten George Arias on the Shakur Stevenson vs Shuichiro Yoshino undercard.

Kazakhstan’s Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KO) didn’t turn pro until two months before his 29th birthday in 2017, and he hasn’t exactly been fast-tracked. He’s beaten a handful of familiar faces, including Kamil Sokolowski, Onoriode Ehwarieme, and Johann Duhaupas, but this is very much “put up or shut up” time if he wants to be a player in this stagnant heavyweight division.

We’ll keep you posted as the card comes together.