Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings

Last updated
The Champion Returns
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings.jpg
Date25 April 2015
Venue Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA
Title(s) on the line WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring and TBRB heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Flag of Ukraine.svg Wladimir Klitschko Flag of the United States.svg Bryant Jennings
Nickname "Dr. Steelhammer" "By-By"
Hometown Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Pre-fight record 63–3 (53 KO) 19–0 (10 KO)
Age 39 years, 1 month 30 years, 7 months
Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight241+12 lb (110 kg)226+34 lb (103 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring and TBRB
Heavyweight Champion
The Ring
No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
WBA
No. 2 Ranked Heavyweight
WBO
No. 3 Ranked Heavyweight
IBF
No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight
The Ring
No. 5 Ranked Heavyweight
TBRB
No. 8 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Klitschko defeats Jennings by unanimous decision
(Max DeLuca 118–109, Steve Weisfeld 116–111, Robin Taylor 116–111)

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings , billed as The Champion Returns, was a heavyweight fight for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles. [1] [2] The fight took place on April 25, 2015 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. [3]

Contents

This was the first time Klitschko had fought in the United States since 2008 and first time the lineal world heavyweight title was fought for in the United States since Lennox Lewis defeated Vitali Klitschko in 2003. [3] His last fight in the United States was a title unification against Sultan Ibragimov. [4] This was also Klitschko's last professional win.

The fight aired on HBO. [5]

Build-up

On January 20, 2015 ESPN reported that the potential Klitschko vs. Jennings was confirmed and to take place on April 25, 2015. Negotiations initially started in November 2014. Klitschko's manager, Bernd Boente finally announced the fight and said all contracts had been signed.

Being Jennings first world title fight since turning professional in 2010, he spoke of his excitement, "I have all of the attributes naturally to be a champion that you can't teach heart and will. I'm psyched up. This is the level where I'm at. This is exactly what I planned to do. Whatever competition you are in, your goal should be to reach the top. This is the top, but now it's about taking it to higher heights and winning." It was reported that Jennings was Deontay Wilder's mandatory challenger for the WBC title, but he gave up the opportunity to fight Klitschko instead.

Klitschko also spoke about the fight, "I do have great respect for Bryant Jennings and his achievements. He has good movement in the ring and good technique. I know this will be a tough challenge. I am extremely happy to fight in New York again. I had my first unification fight here and a lot of great heavyweight matches have taken place at Madison Square Garden. It will definitely be a great fight night and I will do everything for it from my side."

The Barclays Center in Brooklyn was originally chosen to stage the fight, but no reason was given for the change of venue. It would be the fourth time Wladimir would fight at the Garden. [6]

Fight details

Klitschko defeated Jennings by effective use of his jab and nullifying Jennings' offensive game on the inside, especially by holding Jennings, which resulted in the referee deducting a point in the 10th round for excessive holding, although Klitschko did end up winning via unanimous decision with scores of (116–111, 116–111, and 118–109) for his 18th successful title defense. [7] [8] [9] [10]

According to Compubox Stats, Klitschko landed 144 of his 545 punches thrown (26%) whilst Jennings landed 110 of 376 (29 percent). [11]

Aftermath

With this win, Klitschko defeated 23rd opponent for the world heavyweight championship, beating a record held by Joe Louis for 67 years. [12] [13] [14] Klitschko also broke Muhammad Ali's record of the most wins in unified championship bouts in boxing history, gaining his 15th win. [14] Klitschko reportedly earned $12.5 million for the fight. [15] Klitschko would later face Tyson Fury and would suffer a shock decision loss. A planned rematch would fall through, and Wladimir would end up facing Anthony Joshua, losing by an 11th-round TKO. Klitschko retired after that fight meaning that the Jennings fight would be the final victory in his long career.

Broadcasting

CountryBroadcaster
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany RTL
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary DigiSport
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland PolSat
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom BoxNation
Flag of the United States.svg  United States HBO

Viewership

According to Nielsen Media Research, the fight averaged 1.637 million viewers, peaking at 1.742 million viewers. The whole card averaged 1.3 million. The undercard fight between Ali and Santana averaged 1 million viewers. [16]

Fight card

Weight ClassWeightvs.MethodRoundTimeNotes
HeavyweightUnlimited Flag of Ukraine.svg Wladimir Klitschko (c) def. Flag of the United States.svg Bryant Jennings UD12/12 Note 1
Welterweight147 lbs. Flag of the United States.svg Sadam Ali def. Flag of the United States.svg Francisco SantanaUD10/10
HeavyweightUnlimited Flag of the United States.svg Charles Martin def. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Dallas TKO1/12
Cruiserweight200 lbs. Flag of Georgia.svg Iago Kiladzedef. Flag of the United States.svg Rayford JohnsonTKO4/8
Super Lightweight140 lbs. Flag of the United States.svg Kenneth Sims Jrdef. Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Luis RodriguezUD6/6

^Note 1 For WBA, WBO, IBF, The Ring and lineal heavyweight titles.

Preceded by Wladimir Klitschko's bouts
April 25, 2015
Succeeded by
Preceded by Bryant Jennings's bouts
April 25, 2015
Succeeded by

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References

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  13. "Не собираюсь ломать челюсть: Владимир Кличко заговорил о возвращении в ринг" (in Russian). Retrieved 25 May 2020.
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  15. "Главные богачи спорта: больше всех зарабатывают Кличко и Ярмоленко, Свитолина – номер один у девушек" . Retrieved 1 December 2020.
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