Trevor Bryan Successfully Defends His Title By SD!
Fighting one year to the day since his last outing, against Bermane Stiverne, Regular WBA heavyweight champion Trevor “The Dream” Bryan (22-0, 15 KO’s) made a successful return to the ring. Bryan accomplished this by knocking out the previously undefeated Jonathan “The King” Guidry (17-1-2, 10 KO’s) by way of split decision. The win stood as the first defense of his belt. These were also solid rounds considering that before his bout with Stiverne, Bryan had remained professionally idle for three years.
It will be interesting to see what is next for the New York native. Will he now remain busy and keep this momentum going, or shall he fall back into the shadows of the division? As for Guidry, this was a sour setback that he certainly could have done without.
SOMETHING TO BE DESIRED
The first round offered little palatable action to speak of. Bryan enjoyed a prominent size advantage in terms of height, yet both men were swollen in the midsection. Neither came off as if they were overly chummy with a jump rope and that is the pace and intensity at which they fought to begin. In terms of the in-ring dynamics, Bryan slid into the role of ring general and sought to walk Guidry down.
Whereas nothing of real note landed in the first, each man appeared to sting one another in the second. The King first caught the champ with a thumping right hook and shortly later the Dream whacked Guidry with a sturdy left hook. Neither were seriously impaired and both fought through the damage. During the third, the bout became a more level boxing match. Bryan continued walking Guidry down and did a good job of targeting the body and landing chopping overhand rights. The King fought well enough going in reverse and kept the Dream relatively honest with a consistent and serviceable up jab.
This persisted through the fourth. However, in the last minute of the period, Guidry was clearly affected by a number of shots and displayed signs of wilting. The fifth was a carbon copy of the fourth. Yet, every time the King seemed to really be hurting Guidry his determined foe would land a tight counter hook, typically a left hook, to get a brief reprieve.
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
Nothing of any real consequence took place over the next several rounds. During the ninth round the two combatants once again took turns buzzing the other. Sadly, neither of the portly pugilists could close the show with an extended and focused follow-up.
The bout descended into tedium until the final 20 seconds of the twelfth when Bryan was inches away from stopping Guidry. In fact, he did send the challenger to one knee. Despite the late-fight adversity, the King made it to his feet and ended the fight on his feet. When the cards were read, the champ retained his title by way of split decision. In the aftermath of the fight, the champ would go on to call out Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, in that order. It will be very interesting to see who Bryan battles next.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By: Bakari Simpson
