Predicting Jared Anderson's next opponent

Here are my best guesses for Jared Anderson's next opponent. As always, it comes down to the critical "risk-reward" ratio.

If you don't want to read through all of this...I think Francesco Pianeta is the leading candidate.

Jerry Forrest (26-5-2, 20 KOs). He'd seem to be the ideal opponent. He's acquired his gatekeeper/spoiler reputation on the basis of spirited performances against an ill-prepared Michael Hunter and a just-plain-ill Zhilei Zhang. But his lackluster outings against the over-the-hill duo of Carlos Takam and Kubrat Pulev show him for what he is - a fairly-limited banger. He's not a high-volume or accurate puncher - so he's not really the guy to take advantage of Anderson's current shortcomings. Forrest backed out of a fight with Makhmudov and while I think he'd be going to sleep in this fight, too, the money here is almost certainly bigger. I think he would take this fight.

Chris Arreola (38-7, 33 KOs) Going the distance and having his moments along the way against the heavily-favored Ruiz Jr and Kownacki have perpetuated his frontline career. While he might pose a small amount of danger for a round or two against an incautious Anderson, Arreola - at aged 41-plus - is badly faded and is likely nothing more than a punching bag after a few rounds. While Arreola remains managed by Haymon and promoted by Di Bella - their heavyweight stable is pretty sparse these days and there's probably not a lot of useful opportunties to get Arreola a meaningful cash-out fight. So I think this fight can be made.

Peter Milas (15-1, 11 KOs) Well, why not? He can certainly pass an eye-test, has a record that is superficially-impressive. One of the few fighters who has stopped Kevin "Kingpin" Johnson, after all. In truth, he got a bit lucky there as he managed to work a cut that Kingpin suffered from an accidental clash of heads. A closer inspection of his record reveals it to be a bit padded and, of course, he was stopped by Tony Yoka in 2021. So, ultimately, he's probably not much more of a threat than the last few fighters that Anderson has fought while helping to (unjustifiably) build a case that Anderson can take on the best European and Eurasian boxer punchers (Note: I'm not categorically stating that Anderson can't; merely that beating fighters of Milas' caliber don't prove that he can). I'm sure Milas would take a fight with Anderson if offered.

Francesco Pianeta (35-5, 21 KOs) Don't laugh - he might be the guy. Very similar case to Milas with the following additional upsides: a) He was a world title challenger - which never hurts b) He's no longer really a serious fighter - so he's even less of a risk then Milas c) He has a tie-in with the Furys and, therefore, Arum. It would raise Anderson's profile enormously if he stops a fighter that went the distance with Fury. Of course, serious fans will know that his fight with Fury might as well have been light sparring and that Pianeta has not been even a fringe contender since Klitschko stopped him more than nine years ago. I'm almost certain he would take the fight.

Ali Eren Demirezen (15-1, 12 KOs) Sports a good enough-looking record and has been active in N. America. A stoppage of the well-known (if less than stellar and fading) Gerald Washington and a competitive showing against Efe Ajagba give him some status. He's a methodical fighter who has done well against rangier boxer-puncher types, so he's probably just good enough to be a sufficient risk that Arum & Co will steer clear of him in favor of other people on the list. He's still a climber in a croweded HW division, so there's little doubt he would take the fight.