Ryad Merhy is determined to prove that he is not just making up the numbers when he travels to Texas to face the highly regarded Jared Anderson. He intends to shock Anderson with victory and prove that Tyson Fury, the current WBC titleholder, is wrong.
Last November, Fury told reporters he believes that Anderson is the heir apparent of the heavyweight division.
Belgium’s Merhy (32-2, 26 KOs), a former holder of a minor cruiserweight belt, intends to use Fury’s praise of Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs) as motivation to fuel his efforts toward a shocking upset Saturday at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“I’m the future guy who is going to beat the future champion,” Merhy told Sky Sports. “Jared will lose that fight, and I’ll prove Tyson Fury wrong.”
Merhy enters the Anderson fight coming off a career-best win in December, a split-decision defeat of 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Tony Yoka. The performance catapulted Merhy into position to challenge one of boxing’s brightest prospects.
Despite the task at hand, Merhy is confident – in part because he believes the Yoka win supersedes anything that appears on Anderson’s current resume.
“The only name I know of Jared’s opponents is Charles Martin,” Merhy said. “That’s the only name we knew from anybody he fought.”
Contrasting Martin to Yoka, he asked, “Can we compare him to an Olympic gold medalist?”
Moreover, Merhy believes Anderson, of Toledo, Ohio, still has questions to answer regarding his true potential and ceiling, despite the extensive plaudits he has received since turning professional in 2019.
“He is a very young, talented fighter who has a lot of things still to prove,” added Merhy.
“He can switch guards and use both hands. We spoke about his power early on, 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, but we will see who the better fighter is on fight night.”
