Photo Credit: Will Hart/HBO
NEW YORK CITY — The heavyweights take center stage Saturday night with Wladimir Klitschko seeking to continue his heavyweight dominance against undefeated Bryant Jennings. Unlike a lot of heavyweight bouts, this is a contest featuring two guys in peak physical condition. But there’s a few things that makes one of the them the overwhelming favorite.
KLITSCHKO: 241.6
JENNINGS: 226.8
PREDICTION: Aside from Klitschko having a lifetime of more fight experience (Jennings is 19-0 and only started boxing in 2009), the physical attributes remain daunting. Jennings has a longer reach (84), but he is the shorter and overall smaller man. Klitschko has been starting fast recently while Jennings always has the tendency to be slow in the early rounds. That will allow Klitschko to establish distance with that ramrod jab and occasional right hands that will put doubt in Jennings’ head.
Could Jennings land a lucky punch? Sure. But what people fail to realize is that it won’t be one lucky punch that beats Klitschko. The first fights against Samuel Peter and Lamon Brewster show that one punch is not enough to keep Klitschko down. And now that he’s a much better fighter, that makes Jennings’ task even more difficult. He’s not an aggressive pressure fighter that will stay in Klitschko’s chest the entire fight (and that might not even be a good idea considering Wladimir’s clinching ability).
A Jennings win would likely be the biggest upset in heavyweight history since Lewis-Rahman I. KLITSCHKO KO7
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Sadam Ali: 146.8
Francisco Santana: 146.4
PREDICTION: Sadam Ali had his coming out party in his last fight by knocking out Carlos Abregu. This fight serves to further showcase him as Santana isn’t in his class but has proven he can go rounds with bigger men (notably Jermell Charlo in 2011). If an Ali stoppage happens, its likely late. ALI UD
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 