Following the collapse of Jared Anderson’s fight with Solomon Dacres, Frank Warren has acted fast to bolster next weekend’s Co-op Live Arena card headlined by Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, with two additional bouts set to be added in order to further strengthen the bill.
Touted by Tyson Fury to be the successor to his throne, Anderson’s career has been derailed by a devastating defeat to Martin Bakole in August 2024, but ‘The Real Big Baby’ recently signed a co-promotional deal with Warren in an attempt to get back on track.
The Ohio operator had been poised to make his debut with Queensberry Promotions on the Wardley-Dubois card next weekend, until an injury to the American led to the cancellation of his bout with former English heavyweight champion, Dacres.
Veteran promoter Warren has wasted no time in finding a replacement and he is understood to have organised two short-notice contests, with light-heavyweight title hopeful David Morrell set to face former British super-middleweight champion, Zak Chelli.
On top of that, Uzbekistan’s two-time Olympic and World champion, Bakhodir Jalolov, is stepping in.
🇺🇿Bakhodir Jalolov will make his ring return on May 9 on the Fabio Wardley–Daniel Dubois undercard. pic.twitter.com/12WAq7tEgY
— Jalol Akhmedov🇺🇿 (@JalolAkhmedov) April 29, 2026
Labelled by Bob Arum as a ‘future heavyweight champion’, amateur standout Jalolov is yet to truly kick on in his professional career, despite 14 knockouts on his 16-fight undefeated record.
At the age of 31 years old, ‘The Big Uzbek’ has fought only twice since 2023, but the towering 6’7” southpaw is believed by many fans to be a world champion-in-waiting if he can be moved quicker, despite a lack of eye-catching wins as a pro.
As reported by DAZN, Jalolov will face Croatia’s Agron Smakici. Smakici boasts 19 knockouts from 21 wins and has suffered three defeats. He is the man who infamously caused a cut on Tyson Fury in sparring, leading to the postponement of the Brit’s first fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
The addition does well to prop up the main event – Wardley defending his WBO world title in one of the most intriguing heavyweight scraps of the year, and one with big repercussions in the division.