WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) has labelled Jared Anderson 16-0 (15) the future of the heavyweight division, but Ryad Merhy 32-2 (26) is out to prove him wrong.
The 31-year-old Merhy, who was born in Côte D’Ivoire but boxes out of Belgium, will make his stateside debut against Toldeo, Ohio’s Anderson, 24, at the American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas on Saturday night.
Fury has been high on Anderson for some time, telling the media last year: “Jared’s the man. This is the future champ right here. I said it three years ago, I stand by my words. This is the heir to the throne, guys. You better believe it.”
But former cruiserweight Merhy, who has boxed at heavyweight for the past two years and is coming off a split points win over Tony Yoka 11-3 (9) in December, is confident he has the skills and experience to defeat young hotshot Anderson.
“I’m the future guy who is going to beat the future champion, Jared will lose that fight and I’ll prove Tyson Fury wrong,” Mehry told Sky Sports.
“The only name I know of Jared’s opponents is Charles Martin, that’s the only name we knew from anybody he fought.
“Can we compare him to an Olympic gold medallist?”
That’s not to say Mehry doesn’t see the potential in Anderson. He just believes his previous opponents have been cherrypicked to match his style.
“He is a very young talented fighter who has a lot of things to prove,” said Merhy. “He can switch guard and use both hands, early on we spoke about the power but you have to see who he knocked out before.
“The opponent he had before, to be able to compare who knocks out who we have to be able to see who he fought. He’s doing pretty well with his skills, we will see on fight night who is the better fighter.”
Merhy says he wants to defeat Anderson before targeting one of the two bridgerweight titles. Only the WBC and the WBA recognise the 224-pound weight class.
“Let’s be reasonable, my first goal is to be world champion in the bridgerweight division,” he explained. “That’s my first goal, become world champion in bridgerweight and then if opportunities come at heavyweight again I will catch it.
“But first I want to become world champion in bridgerweight.
“I’m loving being the outsider, it’s a very comfortable position for me to be in. There’s no pressure. I’m not a heavyweight, I’m a bridgerweight so it’s just an opportunity I’ve caught and being the outsider gives me zero stress and very comfortable.
“I’m waiting for my opportunity to catch the bridgerweight world title.”
Merhy added he would be happy to face former WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie 19-1 (14), who is moving up in weight to face WBC bridgerweight titleholder Lukasz Rozanski 15-0 (14) in Poland on May 24.
“I don’t feel like he has anything special, I was watching him fight in the cruiserweight division already,” Merhy said.
“He’s tall, has a good jab and that’s about it. It’s not something that’s of any concern to me.
“And yes, I’ll take that fight.”
