Following their latest heavyweight signing, Top Rank has the future of the top division on lockdown with three of the most talented prospects in the sport.
Adding to Jared Anderson and their acquisition of a slice of the Zhan Kossobutskiy pie, Top Rank snapped up Olympic champion Bakhodir Jalolov this week.
The rangy future star will now line up alongside Kossobutskiy on an eye-catching night of action on August 26
Future of the Heavyweight division
Heavy-hitting Nigerian contender Efe Ajagba will be in the opposite corner to Kazakh southpaw Kossobutskiy in the ten-round co-feature to Jared Anderson vs Andriy Rudenko in Tulsa.
Uzbek Jalolov will make his Top Rank debut in the eight-round televised opener against Nigeria’s Onoriode Ehwarieme.
Therefore, matched correctly as they tear through the rankings, Kossobutskiy, Anderson, and Jalolov will compete for world title belts over the next few years.
A fourth addition to that list could also be Arslanbek Makhmudov, who took the co-feature slot last time when Anderson headlined.
Overall, Top Rank is ensuring they are in the shake-up for heavyweight honors in the future.
Anderson vs Rudenko
The ESPN+-streamed undercard for Anderson vs Rudenko includes some of the sport’s brightest up-and-coming talents.
Rising featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, the latest fistic talent to come from Brownsville, Brooklyn, will fight an opponent to be named in an eight-rounder.
Carrington will make his fourth 2023 appearance. It follows an eighth-round TKO win over Luis Porozo in June.
Undefeated middleweight prospect Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, will face Sona Akale (7-1, 4 KOs) in a six-rounder.
Ali Walsh will fight in Tulsa for the third time as a pro following an eight-round draw against Danny Rosenberger on the Devin Haney-Vasiliy Lomachenko undercard.
19-year-old lightweight prodigy Abdullah Mason will make his fourth appearance of 2023 in a six-round duel.
Mason was considered one of the brightest U.S. amateur talents before signing with Top Rank in October 2021.
The southpaw returns after a second-round TKO win over Alex de Oliveira on July 1.
In a ten-round junior lightweight tilt, Filipino Olympian Charly Suarez returns. He will put his unbeaten record against hard-hitting Dominican Yohan Vasquez.
Suarez heads to Tulsa following a 12th-round TKO win against then-unbeaten Australian Paul Fleming on enemy turf.
In addition, Kazakh Olympian Ablaikhan Zhussupov returns in a welterweight clash scheduled for eight rounds.
Anderson-Rudenko, Ajagba-Kossobutskiy & Jalolov-Ehwarieme will be broadcast live on ESPN. Also on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Holden Productions, tickets start at $49.50. Furthermore, they are on sale now at www.hardrockcasinotulsa.com.
