Anderson just another hype job crushed

I will put my hands up on this one, I honestly thought Anderson would surprise everyone and outpoint Bakole convincingly.

Bakole is looking a serious contender, I can see him giving everyone in this division problems except Usyk, he is so heavy handed.

Will be interesting to see if Anderson can have a resurgence and learn from this loss, to become a better fighter. I don't want to hear excuses on this one, such as rushed matchmaking to tactics, Anderson lost fair and square, but IMO he is still talented and can come back from this loss.

 

Most hyped fighters will get beaten on the way up - most will hit a certain level and go no further.

It's the nature of any competitive sport, these guys are at the sharp end of the bellcurve and only so many can progress all the way up... The rest can, will and do get found out well before they get to the very top - and the higher up the tree you go, the fewer will make it.

Anderson has been exposed only in the sense that he's fought his first legit gatekeeper and been found wanting - the latest in a long line of hopefuls with high expectations on their shoulders.

Can he improve and fix his problems? He's young and it's possible - but it's a big ask... Maybe he can go a bit further, maybe not, but I very much doubt he'll go all the way to a belt.



Ps... People suddenly rating Bakole as a serious contender are perpetuating the law of hypejobs - "beat a hypejob, become a hypejob".

He's good, but his best win is 42 year old Takam - he's not suddenly top ten on the back of beating an overhyped yank prospect.

 

He is a 6ft2 fight pretending to be 6ft4

 

Honestly he's not talented in terms of understanding the game, just very athletic.

 

"Anderson has been exposed only in the sense that he's fought his first legit gatekeeper and been found wanting - the latest in a long line of hopefuls with high expectations on their shoulders."

Don't you think it was too soon for a match with a guy like Bakole?

You're better off getting exposed when fighting for a title or being in title contention rather than losing at this stage of his career.

 

Possibly.

But it's a calculated risk - a solid win would've increased the hype significantly, proven a lot more about him and he'd have learned from it... As it is, he lost convincingly.

Realistically, you shouldn't be getting into any kind of title contention without beating guys like Bakole...
No saying he can't come back from it, Dubois lost to Joyce who basically only used the jab as a 23 year old and learned, came back better and earned title shots - it's not impossible that Anderson could learn, it might be a useful wake-up call as the limitations he showed here would land him in massive trouble against the legit contenders of the division.


All said, it's not bad IMHO, it's told us a lot about what he's not (yet??) but what comes next depends on his willingness to work and learn - and even that might not be enough.

I hate seeing hypejobs overprotected and shuffled towards title fights they haven't earned and don't deserve.

 

Just like Wilder... But without the power... And put up against his first gatekeeper much, much younger.

 

Give the guy a break!
He’s a young fighter who just got in with an absolute monster who no one’s lining up to fight. At least he had the stones to get in there and give us 5 fun rounds.

 

I don't think anybody really did.

 

He was 17-0 and 24 years of age for this fight. Maybe they could of padded his record for a year or two more but it would of been a year of two of wasting his time. It didn't help Hrgovic to keep padded his record and when he did step up he struggled badly with Zhang and then was beaten by Dubois.

Parker was 18-0 and 24 when he fought Takam which was his first serious step up in class, difference here was Anderson simply wasn't good enough to get past his gatekeeper.

Maybe Anderson can use this set back to learn and improve in the next year or two. Personally I think it's better he have the set back earlier in his career when he is younger and more likely to make changes rather than when he's much older and perhaps too old to change.

 

I wouldn't say that, similarities are Anderson is American and overhyped. That's it

 

Oh for sure, there's big differences.

But in the sense that they're American, athletic with poor ring IQ and overhyped - there's similarities.

Anderson wasn't nearly as protected.

 

"Realistically, you shouldn't be getting into any kind of title contention without beating guys like Bakole..."

100% I agree.

They shouldn't have rolled the dice so early in Anderson's career.

 

I just realized that people on this forum hate every heavyweight prospect.