By Ian S Palmer
There’s a good heavyweight showdown this Saturday, August 18th at the Ocean Resort Casino as Bryant Jennings of Philadelphia will be facing off against Alexander Dimitrenko of Russia. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. On ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes while fans in Canada can check it out on tape delay the next day at 1pm ET on TSN 1, 3 and 4. Jennings last fought in April when he beat Joey Dawejko by a 10-round unanimous decision for the vacant USA Pennsylvania State Heavyweight Title. Dimitrenko’s last outing came in December when he beat Miljan Rovcanin by a 10th-round disqualification after the fight was originally called a draw.
Jennings is now 33 years old and enters the ring with an impressive mark of 23-2 along with 10 Kos. His two defeats as a pro came at the hands of former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine by way of unanimous decision in April, 2015 and Luis Ortiz then stopped him in the seventh round in his very next fight eight months later and won the interim WBA Heavyweight Title. Jennings has won his four fights since then with three of them coming by KO. However, he faced journeymen during that span.
Jennings stands 6-feet-3-inches tall and has a good reach of 84 inches. His long arms allow him to keep his opponents at bay with a stiff jab and are also useful defensively. However, he often doesn’t let his hands go enough for the physical attributes that he owns. He can often wait too long to go on the attack and that’s what hurt him against Klitschko. He was stopped by Ortiz, but overall, Jennings has shown a pretty good chin throughout his career. He turned pro back in 2010 and has fought 139 rounds since then.
As for his power, Jennings isn’t the hardest hitting heavyweight around and owns a current knockout ratio of 52 per cent. His best wins have been against the likes of Artur Szpilka, Mike Perez, Steve Collins, Chris Koval, Andrey Fedosov, Bowie Tupou, Siarhei Liakhovich and Maurice Byarm. However, he hasn’t really fought a notable opponent since losing to Ortiz close to three years ago. Jennings didn’t get involved in boxing until later in life and had a short amateur career with a mark of 13-4. he was a national Golden Gloves runner up in 2009 and has also won the USBA Heavyweight crown as a pro.
The 36-year-old Dimitrenko is a former European Heavyweight Champion who fights out of Germany. He climbs through the ropes with a record of 41-3 with 26 Kos . He was beaten in 2009 by Eddie Chambers by 12-round majority decision and was dropped twice. That contest showed the big 6-foot-7 Russian has problems with quick, mobile boxers with power. Dimitrenko then won the European belt before being stopped by Kubrat Pulev in the 11th round in 2012. He was also beaten by Joseph Parker when he was stopped in the third round in a shot at the WBO Heavyweight Title.
Since then Dimitrenko has won three in a row with most of his opponents being Grade B level. Dimitrenko’s chin isn’t the strongest around as he’s been stopped twice, but he does have pretty good power of his own with a current knockout ratio of 59 per cent. Dimitrenko generally boxes at a slower pace and has a stiff and effective jab. He turned pro in 2001 after an long and successful amateur career and has plenty of pro experience with 235 rounds of action since then.
He has a four-inch height advantage over Jennings, but his reach is an inch shorter. Dimitrenko has fallen a little short when stepping up in class and his biggest wins have been over the likes of Michael Sprott, Albert Sosnowski, Luan Krasniqi, Deric Rossy, Malcolm Tann, Danny Batchelder, Billy Zumbrun Vaughn Bean, Chris Koval, Ross Puritty, Andy Sample, Julius Francis and Chad Van Sickle. Since turning pro, Dimitrenko has won the IBF International, EBU (European), WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Title, IBF Intercontinental and IBF Youth Heavyweight Titles.
Prediction…
Jennings needs to make a statement here if he hopes to have any chance of getting a title shot in the future. If he can’t beat the likes of Dimitrenko it’s doubtful he can beat Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua. Dimitrenko’s a big guy with good power, but has a questionable chin. Jennings has the skills to beat him, but needs to put them to use on Saturday night to be successful.
