Featured

Artur Szpilka vs Bryant Jennings Preview & Prediction

By Ian S Palmer

Undefeated heavyweight hopefuls Artur Szpilka of Poland and Bryant Jennings of America will battle it out at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday, January 25. The 10-round bout will be broadcast across Canada and the U.S. by HBO. Jennings carries a record of 17-0 with him along with nine Kos, while Szpilka will enter the ring with a mark of 16-0 and 12 Kos.

Jennings, who’s considered to be one of the top American heavyweights on the scene at the moment, stopped Andrey Fedosov in the sixth round in his last outing seven months ago. The 24-year-old Szpilka, a southpaw, last fought in August and stopped Mike Mollo in the fifth-round. He also knocked Mollo out in the sixth round last February.

The 29-year-old Jennings fought just once in 2013 as he was changing managers and promoters and he was out of the public eye after building up a sizeable following the year before. He may have some ring rust to work off early in the bout against Szpilka. However, he claims that he kept himself in shape while dealing with his business matters and is in shape and ready to take out his frustrations on his opponent.

Jennings claims that he doesn’t really know a lot about Szpilka, other than he’s a southpaw and stands 6-foot-3. He also realizes that his opponent has pretty good power and has earned stoppages in three of his past four encounters. The American said he doesn’t usually care about scouting his opponents as they’re in the ring to take his head off and vice versa.

Considering that he only took up boxing five years ago as a 24-year-old, Jennings’ career up to now has been quite impressive. The Philadelphia fighter has taken care of everybody he’s met and figures it’s time to step up in class and test his skills against better opponents. He’s hoping to get a title shot in the next year or two, but of course a loss to Szpilka would derail those plans.

Both Jennings and Szpilka have good power and a solid shot right on the button could see either of them hit the deck. Szpilka is a former Polish cruiserweight champion and isn’t really as polished as Jennings is when it comes to boxing skills. He’s got a lot of heart, but can be a bit wild at times. Jennings likes to keep his fists busy in the ring and usually earns his stoppages by wearing his opponents down rather than with one-punch power. He usually sets everything up with that stiff jab of his.

This should be an interesting and entertaining bout. Jennings is used to outworking his opponents and pressing the action. His chin hasn’t really been tested as of yet and Szpilka is planning on giving it a good workout this Saturday. Jennings was decked in 2012 by Bowie Tupou, but got up to stop him in the fifth round. Szpilka hits harder than Tupou, but will find it’s hard to catch Jennings solidly because of his movement.

Prediction

It can be argued that Szpilka is the more experienced boxer here as he’s beaten Owen Beck, Brian Minto and Jameel McCline along with Mollo. Jennings’ biggest win to date came over former heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich by early stoppage. Szpilka is younger and has a bit of a reach advantage, but Jennings non-stop activity each round should eventually wear him down. Look for Jennings to take a decision or earn a late stoppage.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Featured

Lamont Peterson vs Dierry Jean Preview & Prediction

By Ian S Palmer

Lamont Peterson will be attempting to defend his IBF Junior Welterweight crown in his hometown of Washington D.C. on Saturday, January 25th when he takes on undefeated mandatory challenger Dierry Jean of Montreal, Canada. The 12-round bout from the D.C. Armory can be seen in America on the Showtime network while Canadian fans can catch it on the Super Channel platform.

The 29-year-old Peterson enters the ring with a record of 31-2 with 16 Kos while Jean, who was born in Haiti, is 25-0 along with 17 Kos to his name. Peterson stands 5-foot-9 inches tall with a 74-inch reach while Jean is two inches shorter at 5-foot-7. Jean has won his last three bouts by knockout while Peterson is looking to get back on track after being stopped by Lucas Mattyhsse of Argentina in the third round eight months ago.

Jean is probably hoping that Peterson is now a damaged fighter who could be a little bit gun shy and is planning on taking advantage of the situation. However, Peterson has waved off those rumours and says he’s ready to show the boxing world that he’s still a worthy champion and one of the best 140 lb. boxers out there. Fighting in his hometown should also be a big boost for him since he’s won all four of his fights in Washington D.C.

This should be a pretty entertaining fight due to the styles of the two boxers. Jean has pretty good power and likes to take the initiative once the bell rings. He’s got good hand speed to go with it and has a pretty solid chin. His best bet is to go after Peterson early to see how the champion reacts when getting tagged. If there are any effects from Peterson’s loss to Matthysse they might show up early on. The champion is usually more than willing to engage in slugfests, but his chin and legs may not be the same they once were.

Peterson has a lot of experience with top opponents such as Matthysse, Timothy Bradley, Victor Ortiz, Kendall Holt and Amir Khan so Jean won’t be brining anything to the ring that he hasn’t seen before. Peterson’s only other loss was a unanimous decision to Bradley back in 2009. Jean, who turned pro back in 2006 is the NABF title holder and has fought most of his bouts in Canada. This is definitely a step up in class for the Haitian/Canadian as he hasn’t really met any top-10 contenders up to now. In fact it’s hard to find a recognizable name on his list of opponents.

Prediction

Dierry Jean’s name doesn’t carry much weight on the international boxing scene and this bout has basically been made because he’s the mandatory challenger for Peterson’s belt. But after being brutally stopped by Matthysse in his last bout, this is the type of opponent Peterson needs to regain his confidence. However, he can’t take Jean lightly since he’s a good boxer with powerful fists. Peterson needs to box his usual style and not be too cautious. If his chin and legs can take Jean’s hardest shots then he should be able to keep his title, likely by a decision.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Latest

To Top