New York’s venerable Madison Square Garden hosts the World Heavyweight title fight between long-time, multiple title holder Wladimir Klitschko and undefeated Bryant Jennings (19-0). The bout is scheduled for twelve rounds, and Klitschko’s WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO World titles will be on the line. Since the fight was announced, Klitschko has been a prohibitive favorite, and the books have him at (-1800), with the return on Jennings coming in at (+1150). There is no over/under line posted for this one as of yet. Jennings has been a long-time verbal sparring partner of American Deontay Wilder, the man who recently captured the WBC World Heavyweight title. Both him and Jennings emerged from the amateur ranks and have been coming up together. It was a toss-up as to who would wind up fighting Klitschko first, and Jennings was selected for big Wlad’s return to the United States. Jennings is going to have a slight reach advantage on Vlad, though he will also be shorter. With Klitschko clearly looking past him in certain aspects, Jennings should come in as the best version of Jennings we have ever seen. It is by far the most lucrative fight of his career, and it his chance to do something historic. No one expects him to break through and beat Klitschko however. Wladimir Klitschko is no longer really a just a man, he is a corporation. Endless lawyers and spokespersons make sure that Klitschko never fights under anything but conditions that they approve. Several years back Golden Boy floated the idea of co-promoting Klitschko in the United States, and the answer came back as basically “what do we need you for?” Now that he has returned to the USA after having stayed n Europe for the last seven years, it is important to note that he has fought a lot in the USA. It is possible that Klitschko is here not only to beat Jennings, but to set up a potential future fight with Wilder. The WBC belt Wilder has is the only major world title not in Wlad’s hands, and the belt used to belong to Vitali Klitschko, his brother. Klitschko has a potential challenge in Europe in England’s Tyson Fury, but Klitschko likely can do whatever he wants. Unless Jennings can ruin the party, Klitschko is likely to want to face Wilder in the United States for the belt. Neither Wilder or Fury have anything on their schedules as they await for Klitschko to dispatch Jennings and decide who he will fight next. For the last ten years, lad has been getting his way. The entire live event at MSG features five fights in all. A pair of ten round bouts act as co-main events. At welterweight, undefeated Sadam Ali (21-0) faces veteran Francisco Santana (22-3-1). Santana has fought the likes of Jermell Charlo, Karim Mayfield and Julian Williams throughout his career, while Ali, who is a former USA 2008 Olympian, is stepping up in level of opponents. The second feature ten rounder showcases undefeated Charles Martin (20-0-1, 18 KOs) as the big southpaw faces Tom Dallas of England, a fighter who was (15-0) before stepping up his level of competition and going (2-4) in his next six fights.
