Will Bryant Jennings Shake
Up
The Heavyweight Division In 2015?
If you talk to any casual boxing fan about the current state
of the heavyweight division, many of them will hark back to
the "glory days" of Ali, Frazier, Liston and Foreman, or
even the resurgence of the division with Tyson, Lewis,
Holyfield, Bowe and the like. However, though the
Klitschko's could be just about tagged on to the end of the
renaissance, they weren't in the thick of it.
When the millennium came around, interest in the division
was still there but it had started on a downwards slide.
Vitali Klitschko was a dominant force after the retirement
of Lennox Lewis, and his brother Wladimir is still on a
twenty-fight win streak with an alphabet soup of titles
around his waist. The iron-fisted Ukranians are great
boxers, but they have never set the world alight and they've
never been big PPV draws.
Boxing has relied on the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Manny
Pacquiao
to do the real numbers in recent years, when in the
past heavyweight prize fighting has been the biggest
attraction of them all. Not detracting from astonishing
finishing ratios for the Klitschko brothers (41/45 for
Vitali and 53/63 for Wladimir), but they never really had
the styles that put fans on the edge of their seats despite
the dominance.
Image by BerlinBeyond2011
Though purists and hardcore fans can appreciate what
they've done for the boxing world, being largely
resident in Germany and other European countries has
meant the glitz and glamour that accompanies Vegas and
huge heavyweight stars just hasn't been there. A new
crop might be budding, but there's every chance many of
them are more mouth than meaningful challengers. It's
not all hot air, and there are some contenders that that
might make their presence felt in the coming year as
they look to shake up the division.
One of those is American Bryant Jennings, who sports a
perfect 19-0 record with ten finishes, and looks set to
meet the champion on a bill in New York in April.
Promoter Gary Shaw said months back that, "if the
opportunity is given to us then I'm sure he is going to
accept it," and Jennings stood by his word despite the
odds. You could, and I would, question the matchup in an
immediate capacity, but that doesn't mean that there
isn't some route to victory for him, however wild the
odds may be. If you
visit 32red today, you'll find
Klitschko at an overwhelming 1/17, but that 7/1 chance
is just what Jennings wants.
"This is my opportunity to shock the world," he asserts.
Of course every underdog comes out with the same
rhetoric, but there are some insiders who believe that
there might just be something there.
Jennings has wasted no time given that he was a
late
comer to the world of pugilism. In some ways that could
give him advantages - his mind is sharp, he is still
hungry, and the focus is real. He hasn't taken years of
punishment in the ring and there's still a lot of years
left in him, unlike the mileage of someone like
Wladimir. However, when Jennings debuted in 2010,
Klitschko was already 53-3 with IBO, WBO, IBO and Ring
heavyweight titles. There's a huge disparity there. We
know the heavyweight division can see a fight turn
around in one punch, but he's already gone the distance
ten times, unlike someone like Tyson who had 19
knockouts when he carried the same record.
Wladimir is famed for his iron chin but sometimes age
can take its toll. Not so fast though - in his two 2014
outings 'Dr. Steelhammer' dispatched 20-4-3 Alex Leapai
and 20-0 Kubrat Pulev in style with fifth round
finishes. He doesn't seem to have lost the spark just
yet. We have seen our fair share of plodding
performances from him though, and that's exactly what
'By-By' would have to exploit if he wanted to give
himself any chance. Though there aren't many odds makers
so much as giving him an opening, just look at Bet365's
even longer 8/1, a fighting man must have belief in
himself or else there can be very real and very painful
consequences.
"He has conditioning issues," notes Jennings, who is
adamant he can push his pace throughout and use his
athleticism to take Klitschko to the brink. He's right
when he says there haven't been any challengers that
have really forced him to dig deep and gut it out in a
long time, hence it's been almost 11 years since he was
last defeated, but whether the person to do it is him is
still a question many are asking.
No-one is going to have more confidence in Bryant
Jennings than Bryant Jennings, and to revert to the
original question, there's no doubt going to be more
eyeballs on him in the coming year than he's had in 19
fights combined. Will he actually be the breakout star?
I see the odds about as high as the bookmakers as it
could be too much too soon, but I'd happily eat my hat
if the upset comes to bring some well needed fizz back
into what should be the fight world's most exciting
division.
