NEW YORK -- A glint of his red gum shield bore through with 1:21 left in the seventh round before 17,056 at Madison Square Garden. Philadelphia’s Bryant Jennings was talking smack and laughing in the face of a glaring giant, showing no fear of world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
If only Jennings’ confidence surfaced sooner.
Only in boxing can someone lose -- and still come out a winner. Jennings did just that Saturday night.
The Ben Franklin High grad got off to an anxious, uneven start, but he rebounded to give Klitschko his toughest fight in seven years, losing by unanimous deceiving scores, with judges Steve Weisfeld and Robin Taylor each having it 116-111, and judge Max DeLuca somehow seeing it 118-109 -- after Klitschko was deducted a point for holding in the 10th round. Seated ringside, PhillyVoice.com had the 39-year-old Klitschko winning by the narrowest of margins, 114-113.
“He couldn’t hurt me, I just didn’t want to get hit that much, because it wears you down,” Jennings said. “I’m pleased, but I would have been more pleased if that score was score was closer.”
“I still believe that I actually won,” Jennings said. “I looked at the one score, and I was like, ‘Wow, did they watch the same fight?’ It was an adjustment in the beginning, I’ll admit it. There might have been some nervous there, but once I got comfortable, I was okay. As my confidence was rising, I could tell he was losing confidence. He was getting tired. I knew in time, I would get him. I wanted to be safe, not get hit, and apply pressure. I felt I did that, and I felt I did enough to win.”
Jennings, who was giving away four inches and close to 15 pounds to Klitschko, kept leaning low and lunging in under Klitschko’s right hand.
“I did expect a tough challenge from Bryant Jennings, he was really, really mobile and really tough to hit,” said Klitschko, who saw his record rise 64-3 to (54 KOs). “I could have done better. Jennings has long arms and good defense. I was confident I would win, but unfortunately, I didn’t win as impressively as I usually do it. Jennings was trying to in his own way, and I have to respect that. But it was tough to get him to fight. Styles make fights and you need two to tango. As I say, a win is a win, and the Klitschko story continues. ”
Taylor and Weisfeld both gave Jennings the third and sixth rounds. Weisfeld also gave Jennings the ninth and Taylor gave him the seventh. PhillyVoice.com gave Jennings the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth based on effective punching. Jennings threw a total of 376 punches, landing 110 (29 percent), to Klitschko’s total of 545 and 144 connects (26 percent). The gaping distance came with the jab. Klitschko landed more jabs than Jennings threw, landing 92 of 383 (24 percent), to Jennings’ 16 of 91 (18 percent).
“He couldn’t hurt me, I just didn’t want to get hit that much, because it wears you down,” Jennings said. “I’m pleased, but I would have been more pleased if that score was score was closer.”
Then again, Jennings’ success arc has been anything but conventional. He started playing football late, yet went on to become an all-city defensive end his senior year at Ben Franklin despite hardly knowing what he was doing. He never drove a forklift before either, though he mastered that by observing enough to get a license on his own without taking a class.
And then there’s boxing.
He didn’t start that until the ripe old age of 24, considered ancient for anyone that holds world championship aspirations. Six years later, Jennings, who turned 30 on September 25, 2014, found himself among the few American hopefuls to wrest the heavyweight crown from Klitschko.
Before taking the huge step in fighting Klitschko, what’s even more impressive is that Jennings forged a 19-0 record, with 10 knockouts, by being a part-time pro, until within the last year resigning from his forklift job to throw all of his focus into boxing.
“This was a nice step tonight,” said Jennings, who gave Klitschko his stiffest test since Tony Thompson fought “Dr. Steelhammer” in July 2008. “I think a few more people know I am now after this.”