Jared Anderson vs. Marios Kollias on Davis-Berinchyk Undercard on February 14

Heavyweight Jared Anderson will fight Marios Kollias on the Keyshawn Davis vs. Denys Berinchyk undercard on Feb. 14 at the Hula Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Lance Pugmore @pugboxing broke the news of “Big Baby” Anderson fighting Kollias on the Keyshawn-Berinchyk undercard. It’s a relatively safe fight for Anderson, 25, but not entirely because he has been hurt more than once in his career by lower-ranked opponents.

A must win for Anderson

This is not a great opponent for Jared Anderson, but he looked so bad in the last fight that he doesn’t seem ready for a world-class opponent. I don’t know if it ever will be, but that’s a Top Rank problem. At this point, Jared is what you consider a shaky project.

This will be the first fight for Anderson (17-1, 15 KOs) since he was knocked out in the fifth round by Martin Bakole on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

It’s no surprise that Top Rank chose an unknown fighter, pitting Jared against the 33-year-old Greek Kollias (12-3-1, 10 KOs). The way Anderson was knocked out by Bakole in a three knockdown loss would have been a crazy move to put him against a contender. Anderson was knocked out in the first round and twice more in the fifth by Bakole.

Jared fought well in rounds two through four, and appeared to be in control until Bakole hurt him again in the fifth.

Should first place abandon Jared if he loses?

If Anderson loses this fight, Top Rank may have to consider releasing him. They were counting on Jared to become their next heavyweight star, but the worrying signs were coming from the start when he was stumped by journeyman Jerry Forrest and then hurt again by former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin.

Kollias is coming off a first-round knockout win over journeyman Tamaz Izoria on Nov. 16. Before that, he had been beaten by Kem Ljungquist with a 10-round majority decision on March 9 last year.

In the co-main event, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (12-0, 8 KOs) will take on WBO lightweight champion Berinchyk (19-0, 9 KOs). Top Rank is pushing Keyshawn, 25, to speed up his career, comparing him to Berinchyk in his fourth year as a pro.

It might be a mistake for Top Rank to move Davis so quickly because he hasn’t fought anyone as much as 2012 Olympian Berinchyk and was stumped in his fight against Nahir Albright.

Keyshawn has shown no interest in fighting Cuban Andy Cruz, who beat him four times in the amateurs and owned him. He is probably still haunted by those defeats and wants to stay away from his conqueror.

Davis will be fine as long as Top Rank protects him from good opponents, but if they match him up against someone with talent, he’ll probably fall apart again.