World Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will be fighting on U.S. soil for the first time in more than seven years, as he has booked Madison Square Garden on April 25 for a showdown with undefeated Brandon Jennings, who is 19-0. The opening line at the books see Klitschko a huge (-1610) favorite, with Jennings returning at (+900). No over/under has popped up as of yet.
This is your typical Klitschko fare, with a huge line favoring the long time champion. Jennings has worked his way up the rankings in the thin American heavyweight scene, and basically the boxing landscape in the U.S. comes down to Jennings and newly crowned WBC champion Deontay Wilder. Negotiations for Jennings to fight Klitschko were on again and off again, and Klitschko appeared to wait and see what the results of Stiverne versus Wilder was. While Jennings waited, Klitschko apparently explored a match with Shannon Briggs, and the Barclays Center was also talked about as a potential site.
[related_post_one]
Jennings went 2-0 in 2014, stopping Tomasz Adamek-killer Artur Szpilka to put the only blemish on the young Polish fighter’s career, and he fought and beat undefeated Mike Perez on the undercard of Daniel Geale vs Gennady Golovkin. How that level of experience prepares you for Klitschko is yet to be seen, but Jennings has fought in the Garden before and for Klitschko, returning to the U.S. just seems to be on his bucket list.
The match is set to air on HBO, so it will be important for Jennings to be impressive. Getting stopped, or losing 120-107 on all the cards will leave people where they are now, and that is putting down American heavyweights.
Even with a loss, the 30-year-old Jennings would be positioning himself as a heavyweight to be reckoned with. A match-up between Jennings and Deontay Wilder has long been talked about, and a good showing, even in a losing effort, could bring that match to fruition for both men, and attach nice seven-figure paydays for the effort. But out and out beating Klitschko? Unlikely to happen.
