BRYANT JENNINGS: “Beating Klitschko Would Make Me THE REAL Champ”

Published

10 years ago

January 24, 2015

It is the first round, in a manner of speaking, and heavyweight contender Bryant “By-By” Jennings is still in the feeling-out process. Whether it’s boxing, business or personal relationships, the 30-year-old Philadelphian believes it is unwise to rush in wildly without knowing who or what you’re dealing with.

More than likely, Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs) will fight a strategic, information-gathering opening stanza when he challenges WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO/The Ring/lineal champion Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53 KOs) in the HBO-televised main event on April 25 in Madison Square Garden. But in this instance, Jennings is talking about his new boss, Jay Z, whose Roc Nation Sports recently signed Jennings to be one of the featured attractions in its new boxing operation. Roc Nation Sports is a division of Roc Nation LLC, which was founded in 2008 and primarily has focused on music publishing and the management of such recording artists as Rihanna, Kanye West, Meek Mill and Shakira.

“I’ve talked to Jay,” Bryant was saying of his preference for going straight to the source instead of dealing with middle men and intermediaries. “I’ve been in the fight game less time than some other people, but I’m hands-on with everything in my career. I need to get to know anybody I’m working with. We need to speak to one another, to feel one another out. I don’t want a promoter whose only contact with me is through my manager or some third party. That’s not who I am.

“Jay and I are cool and on very cordial terms. He knows where I’m coming from and I know where he’s coming from. And I didn’t have to change my team in any case. I still got Gary Shaw (Jennings’ promoter who accepted a position as an executive with Roc Nation Sports), Fred Jenkins (trainer) and James Prince (manager) with me.”

Although their paths have yet to cross in a professional sense, Jennings feels that he knows quite a bit about the 38-year-old Klitschko, who has held at least a share of the title since 2006 and will be making his 18th defense during his current reign, and his 23^rd overall. Klitschko’s management sought to hire Jennings as a sparring partner in mid-2013, but he passed on the offer because he and Jenkins feared that “Dr. Steelhammer” – who has a history of defending his many belts against sparmates — might learn more about Bryant than the other way around.

“I don’t want them (Wladimir’s older brother, Vitali, was then the WBC heavyweight champ) to figure me out just yet,” Jennings said at the time. “I want them to find out what I’m all about when we get in the ring.”

Toward that end, the 6-2, 225-pound Jennings has made the study of Klitschko his favorite subject. In addition to poring over tapes of Klitschko’s bouts, he has grilled fellow Philly guy Eddie Chambers, who was knocked out in the 12^th round of his shot at Wladimir on March 20, 2010, about what Ukrainian giant does well, and maybe not so well.

“Eddie said Klitschko is definitely strong, but also that he’s beatable,” Jennings said. “I won’t fight Klitschko the same way Eddie did. He’s more laid-back. His style is pop-pop-pop. At some stage, I’m probably more apt to go for broke. Klitschko has been knocked out before. I’ve seen things with my own eyes I believe I can take advantage of.

“Of course, saying you can do something and actually doing it is not always the same thing. But we have a game plan, and it’s a good one. If I execute it right, it’s going to be a good night. And there won’t be any excuses. It’ll be my best against his best. At the end of the fight, whoever gets his hand raised, so be it.”

Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) is the newly crowned WBC champ, having dethroned Bermane Stiverne (24-2-1, 21 KOs) on a 12-round unanimous decision Jan. 17 in Las Vegas, and Jennings was assured – well, virtually assured – of getting first dibs on the winner. By electing to take on the 6-6½, 245-pound Klitschko, who will be fighting for the first time on American soil since he outpointed Russia’s Sultan Ibragimov on Feb. 23, 2008, in Madison Square Garden, Jennings is taking on what many would say is a far greater risk. Klitschko undoubtedly will be a prohibitive favorite. But with great risk comes the potential for great reward.

“Having been in attendance (for Stiverne-Wilder), it was obvious to me that a fight with Wilder would be much, much easier than a fight with Klitschko,” Jennings said. “If we hadn’t been knee-deep in negotiations with the Klitschko people, I might have taken some more time to think about what I wanted to do. But I still probably would have done what I did. I’m not the mandatory for Klitschko, and you have to take an opportunity like this when you can. Plus, Wilder is an Al Haymon fighter. Who knows how smooth the negotiations for a fight with Wilder would have gone? Nobody can say for sure whether that fight could even be made, or how long it would take for it to happen.

“I’m a very competitive person. Even after I fought (former WBO heavyweight titlist Siarhei) Liakhovich in 2012 – and I’ve improved a lot since then – I was screaming that I wanted Klitschko. Now, I realize I probably wasn’t ready for that fight at that point. But just the fact that I was looking to fight Klitschko so early in my career says something about my competitiveness. I’m in this sport to be the best, and if you want to be the best you have to fight the best. And, yeah, beat the best.”

To his way of thinking, Klitschko is the clear-cut best, and will be until somebody finally takes him down. Jennings foresees a new king sitting on the most widely recognized heavyweight throne in the near future, with him wielding the scepter.

“Regardless of what happens, taking this fight will do me good,” he said. “But it’s going to do me the most good once I whip this boy’s ass. And it definitely can happen. I don’t understand why I’m so underestimated. People say, `Oh, Jennings is too small.’ Hey, the guys that Klitschko lost to were smaller than him. I’m the same size as Evander Holyfield and bigger than Mike Tyson. It isn’t always the bigger guy who wins.

“But, in a way, I love all the criticism, all the negativity, all the hate. I’m feeding off of it. All it does is give me more motivation to do what I got to do.”

Jennings would be happy to fight Wilder if he defeats Klitschko, but he said he doesn’t expect Wilder’s advisers to agree to a bout to fully unify the heavyweight division, be it against him or Klitschko.

“I don’t know how long that dude is going to hold it,” he continued. “Somebody say they could see where Wilder’s next few defenses could be against guys like Antonio Tarver, fighters he’d be expected to beat. I can see that happening. Boxing is like music. There’s an `A’ side and a `B’ side. I’m fighting on the `A’ side against Klitschko. Wilder has been fighting and probably will keep fighting a bunch of dudes from the `B’ side.

“If you want to believe that’s for real, go ahead. But we’re dealing strictly with the `A’ side over here.”

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Bernard Fernandez

WBA Feather Champ Nick Ball Chops Down Rugged Ronny Rios in Liverpool

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2024

Arne K. Lang

WBA-Feather-Champ-Nick-Ball-Chops-Down-Rugged-Ronny-Rios-in-Liverpool

In his first fight in his native Liverpool since February of 2020, Nick Ball successfully defended his WBA title with a 10^th-round stoppage of SoCal veteran Ronny Rios. The five-foot-two “Wrecking Ball” was making the first defense of a world featherweight strap he won in his second stab at it, taking the belt from Raymond Ford on a split decision after previously fighting Rey Vargas to a draw in a match that many thought Ball had won.

This fight looked like it was going to be over early. Ball strafed Rios with an assortment of punches in the first two rounds, and likely came within a punch or two of ending the match in the third when he put Rios on the canvas with a short left hook and then tore after him relentlessly. But Rios, a glutton for punishment, weathered the storm and actually had some good moments in round four and five.

The brother of welterweight contender Alexis Rocha and a two-time world title challenger at 122 pounds, Rios returned to the ring in April on a ProBox card in Florida and this was his second start after being out of the ring for 28 months. He would be on the canvas twice more before the bout was halted. The punch that knocked him off his pins in round seven wasn’t a clean shot, but he would be in dire straits three rounds later when he was hammered onto the ring apron with a barrage of punches. He managed to maneuver his way back into the ring, but his corner sensibly threw in the towel when it seemed as if referee Bob Williams would let the match continue.

The official time was 2:06 of round ten. Ball improved to 21-0-1 (12 KOs). Rios, 34, declined to 34-5.

Semi-wind-up

A bout contested for a multiplicity of regional 140-pound titles produced a mild upset when Jack Rafferty wore down and eventually stopped Henry Turner whose corner pulled him out after the ninth frame.

Both fighters were undefeated coming in. Turner, now 13-1, was the better boxer and had the best of the early rounds. However, he used up a lot of energy moving side-to-side as he fought off his back foot, and Rafferty, who improved to 24-0 (15 KOs), never wavered as he continued to press forward.

The tide turned dramatically in round eight. One could see Turner’s legs getting loggy and the confidence draining from his face. The ninth round was all Rafferty. Turner was a cooked goose when Rafferty collapsed him with four unanswered body punches, but he made it to the final bell before his corner wisely pulled him out. Through the completed rounds, two of the judges had it even and the third had the vanquished Turner up by 4 points.

Other Bouts of Note

In a lightweight affair, Jadier Herrera, a highly-touted 22-year-old Cuban who had been campaigning in Dubai, advanced to 16-0 (14 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of Oliver Flores (31-6-2) a Nicaraguan southpaw making his UK debut. After two even rounds, Herrera put Flores on the deck with a left to the solar plexus. Flores spit out his mouthpiece as he lay there in obvious distress and referee Steve Gray waived the fight off as he was attempting to rise. The end came 30 seconds into round three.

In a bantamweight contest slated for 10, Liverpool’s Andrew Cain (13-1, 12 KOs) dismissed Colombia’s Lazaro Casseres at the 1:48 mark of the second round.

A stablemate and sparring partner of Nick Ball, Cain knocked Casseres to the canvas in the second round with a short uppercut and forced the stoppage later in the round when he knocked the Colombian into the ropes with a double left hook. Casseres. 27, brought an 11-1 record but had defeated only two opponents with winning records.

In a contest between super welterweights, Walter Fury pitched a 4-round shutout over Dale Arrowsmith. This was the second pro fight for the 27-year-old Fury who had his famous cousin Tyson Fury rooting him on from ringside. Stylistically, Walter resembles Tyson, but his defense is hardly as tight; he was clipped a few times.

Arrowsmith is a weekend warrior and a professional loser, a species indigenous to the British Isles. This was his twenty-fourth fight this year and his 186^th pro fight overall! His record is “illuminated” by nine wins and 10 draws.

A Queensberry Promotion, the Ball vs Rios card aired in the UK on TNT Sports and in the US on ESPN+.

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Alimkhanuly TKOs Mikhailovich and Motu TKOs O’Connell in Sydney

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Alimkhanuly-TKOs-Mikhailovich-and-Motu-TKOs-O'Connell-in-Sydney

IBF/WBO world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, generally regarded as the best of the current crop of middleweights, retained his IBF title today in Sydney, Australia, with a ninth-round stoppage of game but overmatched Andrei Mikhailovich. The end came at the 2:45 mark of round nine.

Favored in the 8/1 range although he was in a hostile environment, Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) beat Mikhailovich to a pulp in the second round and knocked him down with one second remaining in the frame, but Mikhailovich survived the onslaught and had several good moments in the ensuing rounds as he pressed the action. However, Alimkhanuly’s punches were cleaner and one could sense that it was only a matter of time before the referee would rescue Mikhailovich from further punishment. When a short left deposited Mikhailovich on the seat of his pants on the lower strand of rope, the ref had seen enough.

Alimkhanuly, a 2016 Olympian for Kazakhstan, was making his first start since October of last year. He and Mikhailovich were slated to fight in Las Vegas in July, but the bout fell apart after the weigh-in when the Kazakh fainted from dehydration.

Owing to a technicality, Alimkhanuly’s WBO belt wasn’t at stake today. Although he has expressed an interest in unifying the title –Eislandy Lara (WBA) and Carlos Adames (WBC) are the other middleweight belt-holders — Alimkhanuly is big for the weight class and it’s a fair assumption that this was his final fight at 160.

The brave Mikhailovich, who was born in Russia but grew up in New Zealand after he and his twin brother were adopted, suffered his first pro loss, declining to 21-1.

Semi-wind-up

Topping the flimsy undercard was a scheduled 8-rounder between Mikhailovich’s stablemate Mea Motu, a 34-year-old Maori, and veteran Australian campaigner Shannon O’Connell, 41. The ladies share eight children between them (Motu, trained by her mother in her amateur days, has five).

A clash of heads in the opening round left O’Connell with a bad gash on her forehead. She had a big lump developing over her right eye when her corner threw in the towel at the 1:06 mark of round four.

Motu (20-0, 8 KOs) was set to challenge IBF/WBO world featherweight champion Ellie Scotney later this month in Manchester, England, underneath Catterall-Prograis, but that match was postponed when Scotney suffered an injury in training. Motu took this fight, which was contested at the catchweight of 125 pounds, to stay busy. O’Connell, 29-8-1, previously had a cup of coffee as a WBA world champion (haven’t we all).

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

Published

3 days ago

October 3, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 299: Golden Boy in Saudi Arabia and More

A small brigade of Mexican and Latino-American fighters gathered at the beautiful Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Their mission: to export Mexican style fighting to the Saudi Arabia desert.

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez defends the WBA cruiserweight title against WBO cruiserweight titlist Chris Billam-Smith and they will be joined by several other top Golden Boy Promotion fighters on Nov. 16 at the Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy and BOXXER promotions card called “The Venue Riyadh Season.”

Mexican fighters are known worldwide for their ferocity and durability. Ramirez, a former super middleweight champion, surprised many with his convincing win over former champion Arsen Goulamirian last March.

Now Ramirez seeks to unify the cruiserweight titles against United Kingdom’s Smith who has never fought outside of his native country.

“I will become the first Mexican cruiserweight unified champion. It’s exciting because my dream will come true this November 16,” said Ramirez.

Smith has a similar goal.

“This opportunity for me is huge,” said Smith. “I’ve been written off many times before.”

The cruiserweights will be joined by two top super lightweight warriors who’ve been itching to face each other like a pair of fighting roosters.

Arnold Barboza, an undefeated super lightweight contender from Los Angeles, has been chasing top contenders and world champions for the past six years. Former super lightweight champion Jose Ramirez simply wants action and a return to elite status.

“I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019 for whatever reason it never happened,” said Barboza. “I want to give credit and thanks to Oscar, he’s a man of his word. When I signed to Golden Boy, he said he was going to give me this fight.”

“It’s honorable Barboza saying he’s been chasing the fight since 2019. Now that he stands in the way for me to reclaim my titles it’s time to get that fight on,” said Ramirez.

Others on the Riyadh fight card include Puerto Rico’s WBO minimumweight world titlist Oscar Collazo defending against Thailand’s Thammanoon Niyomtrong, along with Oscar Duarte and lightweight contenders William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer.

One fighter missing from the card is Charles Conwell, the super welterweight contender they recently signed earlier in the year. He last performed on the Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Serhii Bohachuk clash in Las Vegas.

Conwell has similar talent to those two.

And what about the women fighters”

Yokasta Valle recently re-signed with Golden Boy Promotions. What is her next scheduled fight? She was spotted facing up against Australia’s Lulu “Bang, Bang” Hawton at a fight card. Is that on the horizon?

West Coast venues

Speaking of the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles, its just a few buildings north of the Belasco Theater where Golden Boy was staging its club shows for several years.

A majority of the boxing media favored that location for its cozy atmosphere and proximity to LA Live. A number of prospects that developed into contenders and world champions fought there including Vergil Ortiz Jr., Ryan Garcia, Joshua Franco, and Oscar Duarte.

On any given fight night celebrities like Mario Lopez, George Lopez and others would show up in the small venue that held several hundred fans in its ornate theater setting.

The Mayan Theater and Belasco Theater are still open for business. According to one source, LA Laker owner Jeannie Buss stages a pro wrestling show at one of those theaters.

World title fight

England’s Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) defends the WBA featherweight world title against Southern California’s Ronny Rios (34-4, 17 KOs) on Saturday Oct. 5, at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Starting time for the Queensberry and Top Rank promotion card is 11 a.m. PT.

Ball was last seen nearly toppling WBC featherweight titlist Rey Vargas but lost last March. He then defeated Ray Ford for the WBA title

Fights to Watch

Fri. ESPN+ 2 a.m. PT Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0) vs Andrei Mikhailovich (21-0)

Sat. ESPN+ 11 a.m. PT Nick Ball (20-0-1) vs Ronny Rios (34-4)

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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