By Ian S Palmer
Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine returns to America for the first time in seven years this Saturday, April 25 when he takes on undefeated Bryant Jennings of Philadelphia at New York City’s famous Madison Square Garden. Klitschko will be defending his IBF, WBA, WBO, and IBO and titles. The 12-round bout can be seen live in Canada and America on HBO while British fans can catch the action on BoxNation.
The 39-year-old Klitschko enters the ring with a mark of 63-3 with 53 Kos while the 30-year-old Jennings is perfect at 19-0 with 10 Kos to his name. Klitschko stands 6-feet-6-inches tall while Jennings is 6-foot-3. However, the three-inch advantage is reversed when it comes to their reach since Jennings’ has an 84-inch reach while Klitschko’s is 81. The champion has 334 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 1996 while Jennings has gone 102 since 2010. Klitschko has the edge in height, power, and experience while Jennings as the reach and age advantage.
Klitschko is a former Olympic gold medalist as he took the super heavyweight division back in 1996 in Atlanta. He won his first world crown in 2000 when he beat Chris Byrd, but he’s been stopped in all three of his losses. These came well more than a decade ago though as Ross Puritty stopped him in 1998 while Corrie Sanders did the same five years later and Lamon Brewster also stopped him about a year after Sanders did. Since then Klitschko has more or less been indestructible.
There are too many opponents to list during Klitschko’s long reign. Some of them have been legitimate world title contenders while some have been regarded as journeymen. But each time he’s stepped into the ring with a top-10 boxer he’s ultimately gotten the job done and more times than not he’s stopped them in their tracks. The only heavyweight belt he hasn’t wrapped around his waist has been the WBC version and this is because his Vitali held it before he retired to go into politics.
Jennings should be considered a legitimate threat as he’s undefeated and has faced some decent opposition in Artur Szpilka, Mike Perez, Steve Collins and Siarhei Liakhovich. He’s got good skills and a strong chin as well as that reach advantage over the champion. However, he’s going to have to deal with Klitschko’s piston-like jab, powerful right hand and left hook, foot movement and defence. Jennings needs to use his reach advantage to tag the champ and then get out of the way of return fire.
Jennings didn’t begin boxing until he was 24, but he’s arguably the best American heavyweight out there. If he can get off first and establish his jab he could give Klitschko some problems early on. he needs to be aggressive and make the older boxer fight for all three minutes of every round. The challenger may have a longer reach, but he’s shorter so he may want to try a few uppercuts from the outside and makes sure he doesn’t forget to go to the champ’s body.
Prediction
This is Klitschko’s 18th straight world title defence and he hasn’t really shown any signs of slowing down over the years. Jennings realizes this may be his only chance at a world title in the foreseeable future and should be determined and motivated. He should be able to give the champ a run for his money and also win a few rounds while he’s at it. Still, it seems the only way to stop Klitschko is to stop him and if he rocks the champion Jennings needs to try and finish him off. Jennings should do well here, especially in New York. He’ll have his moments, but Klitschko should be able to take a decision.
