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Wladimir Klitschko vs Bryant Jennings: A Tune Up For a Career Defining Victory?

Wladimir Header1By Travis Fleming

This Saturday night, live on HBO, heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko, 63-3 53 KO’s, makes his return to the United States for the first time in seven years when he squares off with undefeated American challenger Bryant Jennings, 19-0 10 KO’s, at the legendary boxing mecca of Madison Square Garden in New York. Klitschko will be defending his WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring heavyweight championship belts.

Klitschko is rightfully the heavy favorite, and should come through with a knockout win over the inexperienced Jennings, but this bout does hold some significance with regards to achieving some long sought after goals. Klitschko has dreamed of becoming a fan favorite among American sports fans like so many heavyweight champions before him. He’s a classy guy, and has scored some great knockouts in a hall of fame bound career, but he has failed to impress in fights that were held in America, or aired on American Television. In his last trip to America, he unified the heavyweight division back in 2008 by beating fellow champion Sultan Ibragimov. Unfortunately, in this fight he fought with a safety first approach, which in turn pushed away the American fan base. They saw a giant of a man, capable of destroying his opponent, play it safe instead of delivering a brutal assault that he was surely able to unleash had he been willing to get hit back himself. As a result, the American fan base had no desire to see him return. With an impressive knockout performance, Wlad can erase the memories of this awful display and earn respect, along with an invite back to America to face its new heavyweight superstar, Deontay Wilder. American fans were so turned off by Wlad’s previous showing that only on rare occasions since have Wlad’s heavyweight championship fights been shown in America where the heavyweight champ was, for a longtime, the most admired athlete on earth. A solid performance against Jennings can give Wlad the opportunity to win over American fans before the end of his career by having his remaining fights aired in America on HBO.

For a longtime during Klitschko’s incredible reign of 17 title defenses, there have been very few men that fans have deemed to be a worthy challenger. The division has suffered a great deal because of the lack of competitiveness between Klitschko and everyone else. Last year that all changed with the emergence of the undefeated power punching giant Deontay Wilder. Wilder won the WBC version of the heavyweight title in a shutout against Bermane Stiverne earlier this year. Wlad has wanted the WBC belt for a long time as he holds the rest of the major belts at heavyweight. The WBC title has evaded Wlad for many years as it was held by his brother Vitali and they refused to fight each other for it. When Vitali retired, Wlad had his eyes on grabbing the only remaining title he didn’t hold, to further add to his legacy. Stiverne won the vacant title and Wilder dominated him to become the most interesting Klitschko opponent since David Haye disappointed us with a uninspiring challenge back in 2011, after convincing fans he had what it took to dethrone Klitschko. If Wlad impresses against Jennings, a fight between Wilder and Wlad for all the marbles could be the biggest heavyweight fight since Tyson vs Lewis in 2002. Wilder, unlike Wlad, has a very crowd pleasing style and with a win over Wilder in America, on American Television, Wlad would certainly achieve his goal of respect among American fans while becoming the undisputed heavyweight king of the world.

Currently, Wlad is sitting on an incredible 17 straight title defenses, which places him third of all time among heavyweight champions. The incredible Joe Louis is number one with 25, while the underrated great Larry Holmes is number two with 19. If Wlad is able to surpass either of these greats, it will enhance his legacy, regardless of opposition. When you step into the ring as a champion against hungry challengers that many times, you’re bound to get caught, especially at heavyweight where all it takes is one punch. Wlad’s longevity is definitely something to marvel at.

Wlad has put in some boring efforts, refusing to engage with smaller men, but last November he put in one the most exciting performances of his career when he knocked out undefeated challenger Kubrat Pulev. Pulev is no pushover and Wlad destroyed him with ease, showing the kind of agression that’s been uncharacteristic of him since 2004. Does this mean he’s trying to win over fans at the end of his long career by employing the more exciting style that he rose to prominence with before linking up with all time great trainer Manny Steward? Steward taught to him to fight in a safety first approach in order to protect his suspect chin, despite having the power to destroy most opponents within a couple of rounds. This style change was wise as it certainly led to Wlad’s remarkable longevity, but it also led to criticism by fans who feel he fights like a timid lion who is afraid to get hit. If he comes out guns blazing against Jennings like the way he did against Pulev, he will redeem himself to American fans with an early knockout.

Bryant Jennings is three inches shorter than Wlad, but will be one of the few opponents that has a reach advantage over Klitschko at 84″ to Wlad’s 81″. Jennings is nine years younger and has suffered a lot less damage than Klitschko in his short career, so he would appear to be the fresher man on paper, but Klitschko is a supremely conditioned athlete who is in better shape at 39 than most athletes are in their early 20’s, so Jennings’ youth likely won’t factor in here. Jennings is undefeated and has beaten some good opponents but he has never stepped in with an elite level fighter. He is a skilled boxer, but doesn’t have the type of power required to beat Klitschko. In his last bout, he struggled to win a split decision over Mike Perez who was his best opponent to date. It was hardly a result that left fans with the impression that he could present a challenge to Klitschko.

Expect Jennings to use his reach to try and keep Wlad at bay while using his impressive footspeed, for a big man, to circle away from Wlad’s harpoon right hand. Unfortunately, this is a very tiring way to fight and eventually Jennings will start throwing power shots and combinations, when he does Wlad will use his excellent counterpunching ability to catch Jennings. It might take a few tries, but Wlad will stun Jennings with a counterpunch that he will never recover from. From there, it will be only a matter of time before Wlad finishes his dazed opponent with a massive right hand or a short left hook off of the jab.

Klitschko has long avoided universal praise as a result of his weak era and boring style, but by impressing against Jennings, then beating Wilder to become undisputed heavyweight champion, it would be impossible to deny that he belongs to be ranked among the top ten heavyweights who ever lived. He would demand respect, especially if he surpassed Joe Louis’ record by notching another eight title defenses before hanging up his gloves for good.

Official Prediction: Klitschko by KO in round 6.

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