MIAMI: Prospect boxer Richard Torrez Jr. tips his Top Rank stablemate Jared Anderson to be America's next heavyweight champion.
"I'm a huge fan of Jared Anderson," Torrez told ProBox TV ahead of his return to the ring Saturday against Curtis Harper at the Charles F. Dodge City Center venue, just north of Miami.
Anderson is continually improving at the Las Vegas-based promotional company, and has wins this year over George Arias, Charles Martin, and Andriy Rudenko, which advanced his boxing record to 16 wins (15 KOs).
"I think Jared is up and coming, and ready to take it," said Torrez, who is a prospect slightly behind Anderson, with seven knockouts from seven wins of his own.
"I really feel like he has a lot of opportunity to claim whatever he wants to within the next year," he said.
"That right hand … power kills, you know? So, I think that, honestly, USA heavyweights are really on the come up. I think we have a lot of up and coming guys, we have a guy that is qualified for the Olympics as well that's going to start being pro here pretty soon. I think for, for at least, The United States fans and the United States, heavyweights have a really bright road ahead of us."
Elaborating on what, specifically, stands Anderson out from other heavyweight prospect/contenders, Torrez said that "it's his ring generalship."
He said: "That's something that I'm really impressed about – his ring general ship, his distance management.
"I think that just being able to watch that, and the defensive moves … they're really impressive. And it's definitely beyond his years, i think from how he does that. He always kind of had that, even knowing him as far back as the amateurs, but now everyone else is seeing it too, now he's mastering it. It's really awesome to see."
It all begs the question as to whether Torrez and Anderson are on a collision course to fight themselves.
"One day that's going to be a mega fight," he told us.
"But, right now, I'm just a big fan of Jared and I can't wait for his next fight."
Torrez fights Harper on ESPN+ on the same card as Jason Sanchez vs. Bruce Carrington, Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Fortea, and Rafael Espinoza vs. Robeisy Ramirez.
