Klitschko vs. Jennings

By Scott Gilfoid: In a real surprise, last Saturday night’s fight between IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) and American Bryant Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs) brought in huge ratings for HBO Championship Boxing at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight drew a peak of 1,742,000 viewers with a peak of 1,637,000 viewers, according to the Nielson ratings, making it the top boxing fight for 2015.

In fact, the fight is the biggest one on HBO since 2012. Granted, it was on regular HBO and not pay-per-view, but it’s still a big deal that a fight between Wladimir and Jennings was able to bring in those type of numbers. Wladimir hadn’t fought in the United States in seven years since his fight against Sultan Ibraginov in 2008.

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By Rusty Nate: Last weekend, we watched a lackluster performance from the long reigning heavyweight champion of the world Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) with him beating Bryant Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision. It’s not completely clear the reason behind the poor performance.

It could be that Wladimir has travelled so little in the recent years that making the trip over to the US for this flight simply didn’t agree with him. It could also be that the long career of the now 39 year old champion is finally starting to catch up with him.

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http://youtu.be/ECeen4K9Jeg

Michael Montero, New York – A raucous crowd packed Madison Square Garden Saturday night as heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and challenger Bryant Jennings squared off. Some critics have opined that the Ukrainian isn’t a known commodity in the United States, but the folks in New York must not have received the memo because over 17,000 filled the arena on this chilly night in the big apple. Jennings brought a good amount of crowd support from his hometown of Philadelphia, less than 100 miles away, yet it was a pro-Klitschko house overall. The fighters were in the ring, the crowd was ready, now it was time for the opening bell.

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By Scott Gilfoid: Bryant Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs) came up short last Saturday night in losing by a 12 round unanimous decision to IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) at Madison Square Garden. The loss didn’t alter Jennings’ self-belief because he still sees him as the best heavyweight in the planet despite him clearly losing the fight by the scores 118-109, 116-111 and 116-111.

The scores would have been wider if the referee Michael Griffin hadn’t taken a point away from Klitschko in the 10th for clinching too much.

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By Jim Dower: Fighting in front of 17,056 fans, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) got the job done in beating challenger Bryant Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs) on Saturday night by a 12 round unanimous decision to retain his WBC title at Madison Square Garden.

But the performance from Wladimir wasn’t a good one by any means, and there is no a lot of doubts whether he has enough left to get past his likely next opponent Tyson Fury.

To be sure, Wladimir has enough talent to beat most of the heavyweight contenders in the division just based on his jab alone, but he’s going to need more than that to beat the likes of Fury and some of the other contenders.

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By Scott Gilfoid: In what was clearly a poor performance from the 39-year-old IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) tonight, he had to struggle to defeat a much lighter and smaller American Bryant Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs) in winning a dull 12 round unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden.

Wladimir was constantly warned by the referee Michael Griffin for clinching until finally Griffin got tired of it and docked a point from Wladimir in the 10th. Griffin did Wladimir a huge favor by not taking off any additional points in rounds 11 and 12 because Wladimir was certainly still doing a great deal of holding even after losing a point.

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By Allan Fox: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53 KOs) will be looking to make his 18th consecutive successful title defense tonight in his fight against the undefeated #2 WBA, #4 IBF, #4 WBO contender Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs) on HBO Championship Boxing from Madison Square Garden in New York.

The 6’6” Klitschko will be enjoying a 14.8 pound weight advantage as well as a three inch height advantage over the 6’3” Jennings. Interestingly enough, Jennings will have a three inch reach advantage over Wladimir tonight, and that could potentially play into his favor if he’s wise enough to stay on the outside and use his reach.

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By Jim Dower: 39-year-old Wladimir Klitschko will be looking to successfully defend his heavyweight titles for the 18thth consecutive time on Saturday night against challenger Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs) at Madison Square Garden in New York.

If successful, Wladimir will bring himself to within seven defenses of former heavyweight boxing great Joe Louis’ record for title defenses at 25.

Wladimir has held one world title or another since 2006. It’s not quite 10 years, but it’s getting close for Wladimir. It’s going to be tougher for Wladimir to keep winning for much longer, as there are fights against the likes of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury that he’ll need to win for him to keep moving forward as the IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion.

Additionally, there is Britain’s Anthony Joshua who is moving up the ranks, and could be someone that Wladimir will need to face in a year or two if he wants to hold onto his world titles.

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