American heavyweight Jared "Real Big Baby Anderson" was to have debuted under his new deal with Queensberry Promotions on May 9th, but he's injured and will be out of action indefinitely.
Heavyweight contender Jared "Real Big Baby" Anderson has been forced out of his scheduled bout against Britain's Solomon Dacres after suffering a torn biceps, derailing what was set to be a significant next step in his career.
The 26-year-old Ohio native Anderson, 18-1, 15 KOs, was preparing to face the 32-year-old Dacres, 10-1, 3 KOs, in a 10-round co-feature fight on May 9th in Manchester, England. The matchup was part of a high-profile card headlined by Fabio Wardley defending his WBO heavyweight title against former IBF champion Daniel Dubois.
News of Anderson’s injury first surfaced during a DAZN broadcast on Saturday night of the Jarrell Miller main event win in Las Vegas over Lenier Pero. Shortly afterward, Queensberry Promotions confirmed the development in an official statement,
This fight carried added importance for Anderson, as it would have marked his first appearance under a newly announced co-promotional agreement. Just last month, Queensberry Promotions joined forces with Top Rank, Anderson’s longtime promoter since signing him out of the amateur ranks in 2019. Queensberry was looking to guide the next phase of his career and maybe a potential title shot with the winner of Wardley-Dubois.
The partnership was seen as a strategic move to place Anderson among a deeper pool of heavyweight talent and higher-profile matchups.
Anderson’s momentum has already faced setbacks over the past year. Once widely regarded as the top American heavyweight prospect, his trajectory changed dramatically following a decisive TKO loss in Los Angeles to veteran Martin Bakole in August 2024. In that bout, Anderson was knocked down three times before being stopped in the fifth round, marking the first defeat of his professional career.
Since then, Anderson has only fought once, returning in February 2025 with a 10-round decision win on a Top Rank card over Marios Kollias. However, the performance was widely viewed as underwhelming, doing little to restore the hype that had surrounded him earlier in his rise.
It has been speculated that Anderson could be possible opponent for rising, British phenom Moses Ituama. Itauma is looking to make his U.S. debut later in the Summer and the possibility of meeting Anderson late in 2026 would have been intriguing.
Depending on the severity of the biceps tear, Anderson could be sidelined for training up to three months. We await the update on that. Meanwhile, it adds another delay at a time when Anderson is working to rebuild both his standing and confidence in a highly competitive heavyweight division that needs younger stars to emerge.