Bryant Jennings making another move in the heavyweight division
Former Heavyweight Championship contender Bryant Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs) is continuing his comeback against Alexander Dimitrenko (41-3, 26 KOs).
Dimitrenko is a former EBU/WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight titlist. His fight with former WBO champion Joseph Parker came to a controversial end. In what many pundits felt was a bad call, the ref initiated a count-out where he should have given Dimitrenko time to recover from a low blow.
Nonetheless, he hasn’t lost a fight since 2016; even capturing the IBF international Heavyweight title in that time. His last fight with undefeated challenger Miljan Rovcanin was recently changed from a draw to a DQ victory.
The change came about when Rovcanin was deducted three points. According to German Federation BDB rules, those are grounds for disqualification.
Jennings has been on the comeback trail as of late. The Philadelphia native once challenged Wladimir Klitschko for the WBO, IBF, IBO and WBA titles.
He would suffer his first professional defeat at the championship level, but gave a very good account for himself. This would lead to an interim WBA bout against Luis Ortiz that saw him suffer a defeat by knockout.
After taking a long hiatus and alleviating promotional issues, Jennings finally found a home with Top Rank Promotions. Since signing with the company, he has been very active; coming off a four-fight win streak including capturing the USA Pennsylvania State Heavyweight title.
Both men are ranked. Dimitrenko is #11 with IBF while Jennings sits at #8 and #11 respectively with both the WBO and WBA.
This is a fight that will see who can remain relevant inside an already exciting heavyweight division.
ESPN will broadcast this fight from the Ocean Resort Casino, Atlantic City on August 18th.
By: Garrisson “Bo” Bland
