Signing off from New York
Two quick takeaways. Jennings showed well – he’ll be a lot better after this fight – and Klitschko, at 39, may finally be slowing down. Check back soon for a fight report and we’ll see you next week in Las Vegas for that other fight.
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Here are the official scorecards
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Wladimir Klitschko UD 12 Bryant Jennings
Klitschko retains his titles by unanimous decision. Official scores of 116-111, 116-111 and 118-109. (The Guardian scored it 116-116.)
Round 12
Chants of Klitschko! Klitschko! as fans of the champion urge him to close the show in style. Jennings clearly going for it early in the frame. Jennings circling well here with the lateral movement that served him so well earlier, but abandoned him when he needed it. A vicious four-punch combination is more than enough to take the final round for Klitschko, but simply incredible how well Jennings took those punches. If it’s possible for a fighter’s stock to rise after a fairly one-sided defeat, this was it.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings (Klitschko 116-111 Jennings)
Round 11
Jennings needs to keep the lateral and head movement up if he’s going to stay in this fight. A pair of left-right combinations from Klitschko upstairs draw a loud reaction from the crowd but don’t appear to have hurt Jennings much. More leaning from Klitschko near the end of the round. Jennings will need a knockout in the 12th to win it.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings (Klitschko 106-102 Jennings)
Round 10
Jennings needs to push the pace in these final three rounds. Klitschko looks like he’ll tire fast if Jennings can step it up down the stretch. The referee finally deducts a point from Klitschko for holding, but Wlad fires back with a hard right upstairs. Jennings continues to do good body work but not enough there: his movement went away at the end of the round and Wlad was able to steal it with a series of stiff jabs.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 9-9 Jennings (Klitschko 96-93 Jennings)
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Round nine
Klitschko holds and pushes Jennings’ head down while the challenger hammers at the body with both hands. Referee stops the action and given Klitschko a stern warning to not do that. Klitschko with three straight ramrod jabs that split Jennings’ guard, but Jennings comes back with a massive right hook that detonates squarely on Wlad’s temple! Jennings then chases Klitschko momentarily and lands a head-body combination that rouses the crowd. Wladimir fires back with a vicious right hand. Jennings is doing the better work.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 9-10 Jennings (Klitschko 87-84 Jennings)
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Round eight
Interesting CompuBox punch stats: Jennings has landed 43 of 150 power punches through seven rounds compared to 26 of 80 for Klitschko. Strange fight. Klitschko is winning rounds fairly consistently tonight – more activity and effective aggression there – but looking as vulnerable as I can remember. Jennings lands a stinging lunging left hook, but it’s not enough. Another round for Wlad.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings (Klitschko 78-74 Jennings)
Round seven
Klitschko starting to go for it now. Stands in the center of the ring and lands a right cross but Jennings takes it well and returns fire. More U-S-A! chants, louder than before. Lots of missed punches from both guys, but Klitschko – while Jennings is making him look as ordinary as he’s looked in years – does enough.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings (Klitschko 68-65 Jennings)
Round six
Chants of U-S-A! U-S-A! swell from the stands. Klitschko holding a lot. Ref keeps saying to not do it, but hasn’t followed up on that point deduction. Jennings fighting smart, staying committed to the body attack. Just enough to win the round.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 9-10 Jennings (Klitschko 58-56 Jennings)
Round five
Jennings movement continues to be good. Don’t know if he has the gas to do it for 12 rounds. If he lets Klitschko start to dictate when he moves he will get knocked out. When Jennings is the one to close the distance, he does well until Klitschko holds him. Klitschko should be getting concerned. I’ve give him the round (and four of the first five), but Jennings is getting stronger and more confident. He’s able to get inside with his head movement and jab. Meanwhile, Klitschko isn’t hitting him all that much.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings (Klitschko 49-46 Jennings)
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Round four
Klitschko holding and leaning a bit here, but the referee issues a warning and threatens a point deduction. That’s a plus for the challenger. Klitschko gets Jennings up against the ropes and uncoils a few short uppercuts inside, a rare punch in his repertoire but an effective one. Jennings losing this fight but not decisively. He’s shown a good chin and more willingness to take the fight to the champion than many of his previous opponents. He nicks the round on my card.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 9-10 Jennings (Klitschko 39-37 Jennings)
Round three
CompuBox totals after two rounds: Klitschko has landed 19 of 78 punches, compared to 10 of 51 for Jennings. The Philadelphian is trying in there, bouncing on his toes and moving nicely. He can find a way inside – which is more than most Klitschko opponents can say – just hasn’t been able to do much when there. Klitschko catches Jennings with that left hand lowered for a moment and buzzed him with a right cross. The underdog is desperately trying to crack the code but no luck so far.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings (Klitschko 30-27 Jennings)
Round two
More lateral movement from Jennings. Really making Klitschko chase. A sound strategy against a 39-year-old opponent, though the small ring no doubt plays to Klitschko’s advantage: there’s nowhere for Jennings to hide. Jennings trying to move and use angles but Klitschko doing just enough with the right hand to score.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings (Klitschko 20-18 Jennings)
Round one
There’s the bell! Chants of Klitschko! Klitschko! ring through the arena. Wladimir, in red trunks with yellow trim, looks a lot bigger. Jennings darting in and out. Klitschko stalking, measured and patient as always, pawing with the left jab. Jennings with a lot of lateral movement here, probing, looking for a way inside. Jennings keeping his hands up. Jennings is negotiating his way inside but hasn’t necessarily landed anything of significance. A late right hand by Klitschko nicks him the round.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Klitschko 10-9 Jennings
Let’s get ready to rumble!
Michael Buffer is announcing the fighters and we’ve just learned tonight’s official attendance is 17,506.
And here comes Klitschko
Can’t Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers – standard Klitschko fare – blasts over the arena system as Klitschko makes his way slowly to the ring.
Jennings making ringwalk
Bryant Jennings making approach to ring to Glory by John Legend and Common. He’s wearing a black robe with purple trim. Looks relaxed.
Does Jennings have a chance?
On the surface, not really. He’s anywhere between an 8-1 to 12-1 longshot depending on where you look. Klitschko has advantages in height (three inches, at least) and weight (20lb). And then there’s the chasm in experience: Wladimir was a decorated amateur and Olympic gold medalist who has more heavyweight title defenses than Jennings has had pro fights.
But if you’re looking for a reasons Jennings might pull off the upset: consider Klitschko is 39 and has held the title for nine years – longer than anyone except Joe Louis – and all things come to an end. And the heavyweight championship, both historically and even in the past 25 years, has a track record of changing hands in weird, sudden and wildly unpredictable ways. Do the names Hasim Rahman, Oliver McCall or Buster Douglas ring a bell?
And as Amanda from New York points out: “Plus he’s a new father. Must be tired.”
So a Jennings victory would be a massive upset, but within a historical context not entirely beyond the realm of plausibility.
Kiev on the Hudson
Hell of a crowd here tonight, hardly the late-arriving sort you see for most high-profile title bouts. If it’s not an official sellout it’s awfully close, with the upper reaches of the renovated Madison Square Garden filled to the corners.
Deontay Wilder is here
Sitting at ringside in what appears to be an aquamarine vinyl suit is Deontay Wilder. At least he’s not trying to draw attention to himself.
Ran into the homie @BronzeBomber at the fight, can't wait to see him clean the division out! pic.twitter.com/hK5So8Ea6N
— Asian Diggler (@RikkiSoumpholph) April 26, 2015
Wilder is an intriguing figure in the heavyweight division. The 6ft 7in puncher turned pro after winning bronze at the Beijing Olympics and won his first 32 fights, all by knockout inside four rounds. He was brought along very slowly and the caliber of his opposition was shall we say dubious, but in January he stepped up as the mandatory challenger to Bermane Stiverne, who owned the WBC version of the heavyweight championship – the only major title belt not held by Klitschko. Wilder won a 12-round decision and the title, showing he could go rounds if necessary.
Stiverne was by no stretch a great champion, but he was a credible top-10 heavyweight and by far the best opponent Wilder has faced. We still don’t know if Wilder is great, but the Stiverne fight showed he’s not a fraud.
Why boxing fans should be excited is the winner of tonight’s Klitschko-Jennings fight will likely face Wilder in the next 12 to 18 months to completely unify the fractured heavyweight championship for the first time since Lennox Lewis retired 11 years ago. For a long time that was impossible because Wladimir’s older brother Vitali held different pieces of the title and the pair, understandably, refused to fight each other. But Vitali vacated his WBC strap when he quit boxing to enter politics in 2013, opening the door for a unification bout. The idea of a single undisputed champion in what’s always been boxing’s flagship division would be a huge positive for a sport that’s been on the upswing after a few down years.
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Santana and Ali in a good fight
Meanwhile at the Garden, Ali and Santana is shaping up as a solid co-feature bout. Bino from Colorado chimes in via email:
21-pound rehydration for Santana tonight. That’s Gatti-like. May be a tough night for Ali?
It sure looks like it. I’ve got it dead even through six rounds at 57-57.
Is the heavyweight division in crisis?
Charles from Portland, Oregon poses a simple question via email: Is the heavyweight division really as bad as it seems right now?
Fight fans in almost every era – with a few exceptions – have bemoaned the dearth of great heavyweights. Rocky Marciano, Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson didn’t exactly cut their teeth on a parade of in-their-prime legends, while Joe Louis feasted on what the sportswriter Jack Miley derided as the Bum of the Month club. What we have today with Klitschko is less a historical aberration than a case of one great champion simply leagues above everyone else – something we’ve seen in the past. Also worth mentioning is the internationalization we’ve seen over the past 25 years in many sports. Nowhere was this felt more than in the heavyweight division, where the fall of the Iron Curtain in the early 1990s opened the door for boxers from former Soviet republics who weren’t previously competing on the world stage as professionals.
Klitschko and Jennings to make ringwalks around 11.05pm ET
Ashley from Philadelphia asks when the main event is expected to go off. Estimated time right now is 11.05pm local time.
Welcome to ringside at Madison Square Garden where tonight Wladimir Klitschko will defend the world heavyweight championship against North Philadelphia’s Bryant Jennings.
Tonight’s fight has been overshadowed somewhat by next week’s long-awaited showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas – certainly the promoters couldn’t have too thrilled when the biggest fight of a generation was made shortly after Klitschko-Jennings was announced – but it’s been more visible than most fights here typically in New York. (Certainly compared to Klitschko fights, which have seldom moved the needle domestically since he last fought on US soil in 2008.) Major ad buys in the form of billboards, subway posters and TV ads have paid off nicely with a sellout crowd expected.
Klitschko is very incrementally staking a case as one of the most dominant heavyweight champions ever. His 17 consecutive title defenses ranks third only to Joe Louis (25) and Larry Holmes (19), while only Louis held the heavyweight championship longer. Now critics may question the caliber of opposition, but Klitschko has cleaned out the division – in some cases twice over. If he lacks one thing it’s a signature win. Of course, the David Haye fight was supposed to be just that, but Klitschko’s one-sided victory that night is obscured by Haye’s hugely underwhelming performance.
Right now Brooklyn’s own Sadam Ali (21-0, 13 KOs) has just entered the ring to face Francisco Santana (22-3-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight fight, the last undercard bout before Klitschko and Jennings face off.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime why not read about tonight’s challenger, who this time last year was working a full-time day job while boxing at night:
This time last year Bryant Jennings was punching a clock as a maintenance man at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, working five days a week from 7.30am to 4pm. The responsibilities of the job included carpentry, plumbing, welding and electrical work.
“We fixed things,” he explains.
Now the 30-year-old from North Philadelphia will try to solve a far bigger problem, literally and otherwise. On Saturday night, Jennings will climb through the ropes at Madison Square Garden to fight Wladimir Klitschko for the world heavyweight championship before what is expected to be a sellout crowd. It will be his first bout as a full-time prizefighter.
The craft of boxing, at the elite level in particular, typically demands of its practitioners a lifetime commitment. There have been top professionals who took up the gloves later in life – Rocky Marciano, Sergio Martínez et al – but they have been extraordinarily rare.
Jennings, a three-sport athlete at Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin High School who had been playing local league basketball to keep fit, had already been working in the facilities department at the bank for three years when he first walked into the ABC Recreation Center in 2009. He was 24 and from his first session on the heavy bag, a light went on.
“Day one” he told the Guardian. “Literally. I say that humbly. My first day. Since then we knew, this was for me. I felt it. There was no turning back because I was good. I was that good. Just imagine what it would have been like if I’d been doing it all along. Look at what it has become.”
