Is Jennings Arum’s Last, Best Hope For Another Heavyweight Champion?

Published

7 years ago

August 16, 2018

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Trainer John David Jackson has an interesting, but not exactly preposterous, idea for why his fighter, one-time heavyweight title challenger Bryant “B.Y.” Jennings, is topping Saturday night’s ESPN-televised card here at the Ocean Resort. The 33-year-old Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs) will swap punches with Alexander Dimetrenko (41-3, 26 KOs), 36, in a scheduled 12-rounder that can be termed as flying beneath the radar.

Although Jennings is nominally in world-title contention with a No. 11 rating from the WBA, he is not listed in the top 10 of any of the four major sanctioning bodies, and neither is Dimetrenko, a Germany-based Russian who has never fought for a widely recognized title. In the IBO’s computerized ratings of the top 100 heavyweights, Dimetrenko comes in at No. 14 with Jennings at No. 27.

But when Jackson looks at Jennings, who in his street clothes and black-framed glasses has the bookish look of a college professor, and has an introspective manner to match, he sees so much more than a guy who had his shot at the big prize and came up short when he dropped a reasonably competitive unanimous decision to IBF/WBA/WBO titlist Wladimir Klitschko on April 25, 2015. He sees a potential world champion who is still honing his craft, and he believes that Bob Arum, the Top Rank founder and CEO who signed Jennings to a make-good contract in June 2017, sees the same thing, or at least is daring to hope so.

“I think Bob wants one more heavyweight champion,” Jackson hypothesized Wednesday afternoon at the Atlantic Police Athletic League gym, where seven of the fighters on Saturday’s card went through brief and light workouts for the benefit of a small media turnout. “Yeah, he has a lot of great fighters, but if you have the heavyweight king, you rule boxing. It’s still the most prestigious and most marketable division in the sport. That’s just how it works. And Bryant represents the last, best opportunity for Bob to get there before he retires.”

It is something to consider. Although Arum was with Muhammad Ali for 27 of “The Greatest’s” bouts, and later rode the high surf with George Foreman during the second phase of Big George’s remarkable career, when he defied all odds by winning the heavyweight title at age 45 with that bolt-from-the-blue overhand right that put Michael Moorer down and out, the Top Rank honcho’s history with heavyweights is a bit sketchy. He took a flyer on Hasim Rahman after Rahman shocked the world by knocking out Lennox Lewis in South Africa, but Rahman never could summon more of the same magic and their association ended with little fanfare.

Arum has arguably the two finest pound-for-pound fighters in the business today, WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko and WBO welterweight ruler Terence Crawford, and he still holds paper on 39-year-old legend Manny Pacquiao, the only man to win world titles in eight weight classes and again a champ of sorts after he stopped Lucas Matthysse in seven rounds to claim the “regular” WBA welterweight strap. There is a steady flow of talent in the TR pipeline, one of the most promising prospects being featherweight Shakur Stevenson (7-0, 4 KOs), the baby-faced (he’s 21 but looks younger) silver medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics who continues his professional development in a scheduled eight-rounder against Carlos Ruiz (16-4-2, 6 KOs) on Saturday’s card. Truth be told, there is a much greater likelihood that super middleweight contender Jesse Hart will find himself in a world title bout sooner than fellow Philadelphian Jennings. Hart (24-1, 20 KOs), who is ranked No. 1 by the IBO, No. 3 by the WBC and No. 10 by the IBF, lost by unanimous decision to WBO 168-pound champion Gilberto Ramirez on Sept. 22, 2017, and he could be in line for a rematch should he get past pesky veteran Mike Gavronski (24-2-1, 15 KOs), of Tacoma, Wash., in Saturday night’s co-featured attraction.

“I want to go out and get it over as quickly as possible,” said Hart, the 29-year-old son of 1970s middleweight contender Eugene “Cyclone” Hart, a huge puncher who imparted to his son the benefits of taking care of business as expeditiously as possible. “My dad (who now trains Jesse) always said that if you let a guy hang around too long, and he gets a little bit of confidence, the next thing you know, you’re in the fight of your life. I’d rather get in and get out fast.”

That philosophy is in stark contrast to the learning curve the more patient Jennings has been asked to master by Jackson, with Arum’s apparent consent. A very good defensive end at Ben Franklin High School in Philly, Jennings’ physical gifts are obvious, but getting his boxing skills to align with his raw athleticism has been a process. Jackson, a former WBO super welterweight and WBA middleweight champion, describes Jennings as a “work in progress,” but whose ceiling, presumably when attained, will elevate him far above his present status as just another fringe contender waiting for the more elite crowd above him (Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte and possibly a few others) to thin out.

“I like Bryant’s position,” Jackson said. “He’s under the radar right now. He’s not being talked up as a dangerous heavyweight, even though he is. But he’s not as dangerous as he can be. He’s using this time to develop his skills.

“The wonderful thing about being with Bob is that Bob is old-school. He’s committed to rebuilding Bryant’s career back up. You don’t hear Bryant calling out people, demanding a title shot right away. He knows, as Bob does and so do I, that you have to earn your way back up to the top and another shot at the title. It could take four or five fights. Bob is making Bryant prove that he deserves another shot.”

Since Jennings’ image-smudging two-bout losing streak – he followed his points loss to Klitschko with a seventh-round stoppage by Luis Ortiz on April 25, 2015 – he has strung together four consecutive victories, all of which can be described as learning lessons. There were TKOs of Daniel Martz, Daniel Haynesworth and Akhbor Muralimov and a 10-round unanimous decision over Joey Dawejko, each fight a building block in his evolution into a new and improved version of his former self.

“Bryant needed to learn how to cut the ring off on an opponent, how to get inside and work in tight,” said Jackson. “He had no inside game. He just worked off the jab. You have to remember, Bryant had almost no amateur career, so when he turned pro (at the relatively advanced age of 25), he probably was rushed along a little bit. It was all on-the-job training. It still is, to a point. But when it all comes together for him, he’s going to be a helluva fighter. He’s some kind of physical specimen (at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds) and he has more power than people realize. If he continues to believe in the things I’m showing him and gets it into his mind that he can do it, he has all the tools to be a world champion.”

Should Jennings get past Dimetrenko – clearly the most difficult test he will have encountered since the setbacks to Klitschko and Ortiz – he moves a step closer to another grab at the brass ring. A loss might end his quest, at least in affiliation with Arum, a realist who knew when it was time to end the experiment with Rahman.

“To have someone like (Arum) to have faith in me has to be a positive thing,” Jennings said. “I’ve always had faith in myself. Now I have to show everybody what I’m still capable of doing.”

While Jennings-Dimetrenko and Hart-Gavronski will be televised by ESPN and ESPN Desportes, the remainder of the card – in addition to Stevenson, fighters who bear watching include popular Philadelphia bantamweight Christian Carto (15-0, 11 KOs) and Atlantic City super welterweight Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna (25-2-1, 9 KOs) – will be carried on the new ESPN+ app.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

2 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

2 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

3 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

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Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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