Heavyweight contender Jared Anderson has a date for his return to the ring.

Anderson will face Ryad Merhy on April 13, it was announced during Friday night’s ‘Top Rank on ESPN’ telecast featuring O’Shaquie Foster against Abraham Nova. ESPN’s Mike Coppinger broke the news that the fight will take place in Corpus Christi, Texas, and will air live on an ESPN platform.

The 24-year-old Anderson (16-0, 15 knockouts) is currently rated No. 7 by The Ring.

In his last bout on August 26, Anderson stopped contender Andrii Rudenko in the fifth round. The win over Rudenko took place eight weeks after Anderson dropped former IBF titleholder Charles Martin once en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The victory over Martin took place in Anderson’s hometown of Toledo, Ohio.

Earlier this year, Anderson faced George Arias in a clash of unbeaten heavyweights, battering Arias before the fight was stopped after round three.

Anderson has sparred against WBC titleholder Tyson Fury, who called Anderson a “future champ” in a recent interview. Anderson is considered the next great American heavyweight hopeful to win a world title belt.

Merhy (32-2, 26 KOs), who was born and raised in the Ivory Coast and now resides in Brussels, Belgium, defeated Tony Yoka by split decision in his last bout on December 9. The win over Yoka took place less than six months after Merhy lost by unanimous decision to Kevin Lerena in a bout for the vacant WBC interim bridgerweight title (225-pound limit).

The 31-year-old became the WBA cruiserweight titleholder after stopping Zhaoxin Zhang in July 2021. The WBA would then strip Merhy over a year later for refusing to accept a fight to face Arsen Goulamirian.

Ironically, Merhy challenged Goulamirian for the WBA cruiserweight title in March 2018, losing by knockout in the 11th round.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

Follow @FSalazarBoxing