Co-main event to Lomachenko vs. Commey on ESPN on December 11th. 8 rounds @ heavyweight with no tangible prize at stake (ie minor belts, eliminator status), neither being ranked top 15 in the world by any major org. Both are 6'4" twenty-something prospects. Anderson is an Ohioan coming off a minor upset over Russian southpaw Vladimir Mikhailovich Tereshkin. Teslenko is a Ukrainian-Canadian who suffered a shock loss to middle-aged journeyman Shawndell Terell Winters in 2019 and only returned to action this past June, knocking out Argentinian glass cannon record-padder César David Crenz to start his comeback. Each is the other's biggest step-up in class to date.
Big BaBa Yaga is the next big thing A true born and bred fighting man who can't be reasoned with, he can't be bargained with. He doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear and absolutely will not stop EVER In till he has them belts.
This was supposed to happen on the Crawford vs. Porter undercard but..obviously didn't, for whatever reason. Glad they found a place for it; match-ups like this separating the chaff from among the HW prospects (even if both aren't putting zeroes on the line) are never unwelcome.
Anderson is the real deal. Teslenko is a good step up though. While i'm not very high on the Canadian i think he comes to fight and it'll be interesting to see how Anderson deals with that kind of pressure and aggression. I have zero doubts that he's going to beat Teslenko but it's still a good matchup.
This isn't half as "meaningful" as the main event (which isn't even for a world title itself and somehow isn't an eliminator despite Lomachenko being top-10 in four of the major orgs and Commey in three, both top 5 in the WBC) and yet it strikes me as more interesting and competitive on paper. Or, this could be a blowout and the coming out party for the man from Toledo meaning the USA finally has a viable young candidate for its HW savior. Either way, giggety.
