TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo's own Jared Anderson had to work harder than at any other point of his career Saturday night, but the result was the same: a 'W.'
Anderson and last-minute replacement Charles Martin went the distance in a 10-round classic, but a third-round knockdown of Martin and an edge in power punches was enough to keep Anderson undefeated.
The two shared multiple embraces after the final bell in front of a jam-packed Huntington Center crowd of 7,234. Judges scored the fight 98-91, 99-90 and 99-90.
“It felt great," Anderson said. "I had my team with me. I got my family with me. I got Toledo with me. They showed up and they’re in the building. They were with me the entire 10 rounds. I heard them all the way through."
Anderson is now 15-0 (14 KO) as a professional.
Anderson, a graduate of Scott High School in Toledo, walked into the arena to a thunderous ovation while wearing a bulldog mascot head. Members of the Scott marching band played him to the ring.
Anderson connected with a few stiff jabs in the first round. Martin appeared wobbly on his feet near the end of the round and may have been saved by the bell.
The second round was closer and Martin connected with a hard right. Martin, a former IBF heavyweight champion, was saved by the bell again in the third after Anderson scored a knockdown with a huge right hand with just seconds remaining.
Both fighters landed multiple shots in a slugfest of a fifth round -- easily the most challenging of Anderson's career. He was able to absorb multiple strong punches.
"I think I took his best shots very well," Anderson said. "I don’t think there was a time in the fight where I looked unsteady or where I couldn’t hold my own. Did it feel like he got me with a good shot and stunned me? No. But do I feel like he got me with a good shot and made me aware. So I had to readjust and get back to the game plan."
Martin ate a flurry of jabs and punches from Anderson in the remaining rounds, but stayed on his feet in impressive fashion.
“I took the fight on 11 days’ notice," Martin said. "I did the best I could. He’s a real champion. He’ll be making his way to the top soon. I’m proud of him.
"He’s really good. He’s a crafty boxer. Usually, when I catch somebody and hurt them, I can finish them. If they don’t fall, usually I can follow up and put them away. But he is like a little middleweight. He is crafty. He was able to get out even when he was rocked. He was able to maneuver and get out the way. He’s going to be a champion."
Anderson said he is aiming to fight two more times this year, but didn't mention any specific names.
Anderson entered the night No. 7 in the WBO heavyweight rankings. Only two of his professional fights went more than three rounds prior to Saturday and none went longer than six.
Anderson was originally slated to face Kazakhstan's Zhan Kossobutskiy Saturday. However Top Rank Boxing announced just 10 days before the event that Kossobutskiy was forced to withdraw due to visa issues.
"I’m grateful for my opponent," Anderson said. "He took the fight on short notice. He came and performed really good. I think we put on a hell of a show for Toledo. I wanted to go the distance. It was my first time. I just wanted to make sure that I could go the distance and especially be able to withstand power the whole 10 rounds. He had power until the last round, and I was happy to get the rounds in."
Anderson came into the fight a heavy favorite, listed between -1400 and -1600 odds by betting services to win.
Martin won the vacant IBF heavyweight title in 2016 by beating Vyacheslav Glazkov after the Ukrainian fighter sustained a serious leg injury during the match. Martin lost the belt to Anthony Joshua less than three months later.
This was Martin's second bout in a row against a Toledoan. He scored a fourth-round KO over former U.S. Olympian Devin Vargas in September 2022.
On the undercard, Toledoan and super middleweight DeAndre "The Axeman" Ware knocked off Decarlo Perez by unanimous decision.
After an uneventful first three rounds, Ware -- a member of the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department -- landed several big punches in the fourth to take control. Perez found himself backed into a corner multiple times.
"I'm just happy to be back. It's been my first fight back with my team," Ware said. "They said I looked good, the crowd was yelling. I'm happy."
Ware, 35, improved to 16-4-2 (9 KO). He was happy to see so many people turn out for the card.
"It's good because the whole city is here and they're watching and can see what we can do," Ware said. "They can see we have talent and our city has talent. That's not just boxing, that's all the way around. I just hope we keep this movement going forward."
Toledoan Tyler McCreary (18-2-1, 8 KO) defeated Deivi Julio by unanimous decision in a junior lightweight bout.
"It means a lot coming back home, fighting at home," McCreary said. "I didn't get the results that I wanted. I got the win, but I wanted the knockout in front of the hometown fans. [I was able to] knock off the cob webs and get back in the mix."
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