Martin Bakole scores stunning TKO of Jared Anderson to add his name to the crowded group of top heavyweights

Top American heavyweight prospect Jared "The Real Big Baby" Anderson took a major step up in Saturday's showdown against Martin Bakole in Los Angeles and was sat down three times en route to the first defeat of his pro career.

The 6-foot-6 Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) took everything Anderson (17-1,15 KOs) had to offer and kept marching forward in an exciting slugfest as he added his name to an already exciting heavyweight title picture with a fifth-round TKO upset at BMO Stadium. The bout was part of a "Riyadh Season" supercard that marked the first Saudi Arabian-funded boxing event on U.S. soil.

"Thank you to Jared Anderson for taking the fight. I'm the most avoided man in the world," Bakole said. "I wish him good luck in the future so go back to the gym and work hard.

"I planned it, I said it and I did it. I told you from the beginning that I came here to work. This is what I'm doing for my baby and my country."

The 32-year-old Bakole, a native of Congo who fights out of Scotland, looked every bit the part of a potential new boogeyman within the division as he opened the fight flat footed with his hands down in the center of the ring, almost begging Anderson, 24, to bring the fight to him.

Anderson, a native of Toledo, Ohio, took the bait and lit Bakole up with everything in his arsenal for the majority of the first round. The problem for Anderson was, it never stopped Bakole from moving forward and controlling the terms of the fight.

Late in Round 1, Bakole broke through with a shocking knockdown of Anderson, which began with a short uppercut that was followed by a two-punch combination -- which featured one punch that violently snapped Anderson's head backward -- to drop him. To Anderson's credit, he rose to his feet and went back on the attack in Round 2.

The pair of towering heavyweights continued to bang in Round 3 as the fight escalated into a two-way war with both men repeatedly landing huge, flush shots. But the more Bakole took Anderson's best shots without blinking, the more Anderson began to wear down amid the high-volume trading, leaving behind both his technique and head movement.

"I made some of the same mistakes I have been making," Anderson said. "I'm going home to my daughter at the end of the day. That's all I really care about. You win some and you lose some. I didn't come into this motherf---er to lose but it's what happened. I will go back to the gym."

Bakole appeared to finally break the will of Anderson in Round 5.

After dropping Anderson early, Bakole proceeded to back him up with combinations before dropping him again with back-to-back straight right hands after squaring up. Although Anderson was able to beat the count, he looked like a beaten man. Bakole followed with seven unanswered punches to force Jerry Cantu to stop the fight while Anderson was still on his feet at 2:07 of the round.

"This is what I planned with my coach. We saw [Anderson] lean a lot [on tape]," Bakole said about the effectiveness of his uppercuts. "You don't stand with Martin Bakole. I am a big man and I am a machine.

"I'm a machine. I'm in this sport to take over. I want to be No. 1. No one wants to fight me but with His Excellency [Turki Alashikh], I know that i can get any fight I want."

After the fight, Bakole called for a rematch against the only man to defeat him, Michael Hunter, who was inside the ring. Hunter dropped Bakole in the 10th and final round of their 2018 bout.

"The worst thing I could have done is not listening to my corner," Anderson said. "They said what I should have done and it is what it is.

"I'm 24, man. A lot of these guys are 34 and wouldn't take a fight with guy. I tried to show out and do my thing. I did another great thing for my city. I'm here and I can't be mad because I'm going to go be with my daughter."