By Ian S Palmer
There’s a good heavyweight showdown this Saturday, December 19th as Bryant Jennings of Philadelphia will be facing off against Cuba’s undefeated Luis Ortiz. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. and Canada on HBO and will be taking place at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. The contest is for the WBA Interim Heavyweight Title and features two legitimate prospects as the have just one loss in a combined 43 fights between them.
The 31-year-old Jennings enters the ring with an impressive mark of 19-1 along with 10 Kos. His lone defeat as a pro came at the hands of former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine by way of unanimous decision in April. 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 attributed he has. He can wait too long to go on the attack and that’s what hurt him against Klitschko.
Jennings turned pro back in 2010 and has fought 114 rounds since then. He’s not the most powerful-punching heavyweight around and owns a current knockout ratio of 50 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. He turned pro just five years ago, as did Ortiz, but Ortiz had an extensive amateur career.
The 36-year-old Ortiz has a perfect mark of 23-0 along with 20 Kos. As his record shows, Ortiz is a hard-hitting heavyweight or has a knockout ratio of 80 per cent. This is his third fight this year with his last outing being a stoppage over Matias Ariel Vidondo in October. Ortiz has blasted his last 10 opponents out in four rounds or less and isn’t at all interested in hearing what the judges have to say about his performances. He has good hand speed and likes to throw combinations, but hasn’t really faced any quality opponents as of yet. Jennings will definitely be a step up in class for him.
Ortiz is a southpaw who has just 89 rounds under his belt since turning pro back in 2010. He’s 6-feet-4-inches tall and also has a reach of 84 inches. His biggest wins have been against the likes of Lateef Kayote, Bert Cooper and Monte Barrett. However, his first-round Ko over Kayote back in September of last year was changed to a no decision after Ortiz failed a drug test. At the age of 36 Ortiz knows this will be his best chance at earning a title shot, but it’s unclear just how good of a boxer he is since he rarely goes the distance.
That lack of experience could hurt him here if the fight goes into the later rounds. The biggest factor in this bout will likely be Jennings’ chin. So far he’s shown to have a solid one and it looks like he might need it against Ortiz. If Jennings can stand up to the power shots of Ortiz then his chances of winning the fight will improve dramatically since Ortiz’s stamina is basically unknown at this point in his career.
Prediction
This is a tough fight to pick since both boxers have some good qualities. Ortiz will rely on his power, but he could be a better boxer than we realize. Jennings has good sills, but needs to throw more punches to keep Ortiz off of him. This could go either way, but if Jennings can elude or handle Ortiz’s power then he has a good shot at picking up the interim belt.
