Jared Anderson Stops Andriy Rudenko In Five

Jared Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs) took on Andriy Rudenko (36-7, 21 KOs, 1 NC) in a main event at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event aired live on ESPN, ESPN+, and ESPN Deportes in the United States. Anderson dominated from the very beginning and won via technical knockout in round five.

Anderson-Rudenko recap

In round one, Anderson landed the cleaner work, particularly to the body. He did get caught at times throughout the first, though. Anderson continued working to the body in the second. Rudenko displayed visible discomfort whenever Anderson landed his hooks there. This continued into round three as Anderson landed the cleaner shots. As the fight went on, Rudenko threw fewer and fewer punches.

Rudenko was deducted a point early in the fifth for excessive head locking. Anderson then piled on the pressure, forcing the referee to stop the fight. In the final seconds of the bout, Rudenko simply covered up and did not throw back. This allowed Anderson to land almost at will as he won via technical knockout. The official time of the stoppage was 1:40 of round five.

Cashing in on the body 🥴#AndersonRudenko | @TeamBigBabyy pic.twitter.com/U0GsH9D3pK

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) August 27, 2023

“I’m fighting for myself and I fight for my family,” said Anderson post-fight. “As much as people want to hate on me for it, I’m a realist and I’m going to stay real, be real, and I’m going to say what’s on my mind. Y’all can take it how y’all want. This is the business, this is the sport. I’m just doing my job. Take it how you want. You can’t force me or want me to be somebody y’all want me to be. I’m [going to] be myself and be that till the end.”

Ajagba-Kossobutskiy recap

The opening round began with both Efe Ajagba (18-1, 13 KOs) and Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-1, 18 KOs) pawing at each other. Towards the end, however, Kossobutskiy landed an eye-catching straight left. Things got a little ugly in the second as Kossobutskiy complained that Ajagba was landing jabs below the navel. Aside from a warning from the referee, there was nothing else done about the complaint. In the final 90 seconds, the two wrestled each other to the canvas.

Round three was even uglier as Kossobutskiy landed two low blows and had one point deducted. Not long after the initial deduction, he landed another low blow which resulted in the referee taking another point away. Ajagba then landed a low blow of his own resulting in a timeout being called. During the short timeout, the referee warned Ajagba.

In round four, Kossobutskiy landed yet another punch below the navel. At this point, the referee decided that he had seen enough and waved the fight off. Ajagba officially won the bout via fourth round disqualification.

A statement to end RD2 by @AjagbaEfe 🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/AwqYquRQkk

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) August 27, 2023

Anderson-Rudenko undercard results

Bakhodir Jalolov (13-0, 13 KOs) dropped Onoriode Ehwarieme (20-3, 19 KOs) three times in round one to secure a stoppage victory in his Top Rank debut. Jalolov was initially set to appear in the main ESPN portion of Anderson-Rudenko. However, due to a legal dispute between Top Rank and Disrupt Promotions (who previously promoted Jalolov), a decision was made to air the bout on YouTube.

Charly Suarez (16-0, 9 KOs) also won his Top Rank debut, although he had to work much harder for it. He won a unanimous decision over Yohan Vasquez (25-4, 20 KOs) with scores of 98-92 (x2) and 97-93. The fight was all-action from start to finish and felt much closer than the scorecards had it.

Ablaikhan Zhussupov (4-0, 3 KOs) dominated his bout with Wiston Campos (33-12-6, 19 KOs) from the very beginning. Zhussupov dropped Campos late in round four and continued to pile on the pressure in the fifth. Campos’ corner decided that enough was enough and signaled to the referee to stop the contest.

Abdullah Mason (10-0, 8 KOs) was went the six-round distance for the first time in his professional career. Cesar Villarraga (10-8-1, 5 KOs) proved to be a lot more durable than previous opponents and had some success with his right hand. However, Mason made the necessary adjustments and went on to win via unanimous decision with scores of 60-54.

In an upset, Sona Akale (8-1, 4 KOs) defeated Nico Ali Walsh (8-1, 5 KOs, 1 NC) via majority decision. While one judge had it 57-57, the other two saw it 58-56 for Akale who was more active throughout the fight.

Jeremiah Milton (11-0, 7 KOs) hit Craig Lewis (15-7-1, 8 KOs, 1 NC) with all he had but could not secure the knockout. Despite that, he won a clear unanimous decision with scores of 80-72 and 79-72 (x2).

Just before the main ESPN telecast, Bruce Carrington (9-0, 5 KOs) claimed a unanimous decision win over Angel Contreras (13-7-2, 7 KOs). Scores were 80-72 and 79-79 (x2). It was Carrington’s first time going the full eight rounds.