Bryant Jennings – fresh coming off a competitive performance in defeat to Wladimir Klitschko – was offered a fight with Cuban heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz, but turned it down earlier this month.
The fight would have taken place on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux Oct. 17 at the Madison Square Garden, which sounds like an intriguing deal in and of itself.
However, Jennings and manager James Prince rejected the offer because it wasn’t enough money for the 30-year-old. With no fight scheduled for the future, it seems like a wasted opportunity for Jennings, who will likely not fight until 2016 – unless he somehow lands on the undercard of Cotto-Canelo – and finds a solid opponent.
The 36-year old Ortiz is undefeated in 22 bouts with 19 knockouts and isn’t exactly a walk in the park type of a fighter. It’s possible that Jennings has been spoiled by the Klitschko fight, and the solid performance has him feeling privileged.
Don’t take this the wrong way. He’s come a long way from working five days a week as a maintenance man at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, but he has a lot of learning to do.
Jennings deserves good fights, but he has to be willing to go through the process of what most fighters go through after losing, and that’s taking something less to prove you’re the real deal.
The 30-year-old is pushing himself as the A-fighter when he clearly isn’t.
In an interview with Tha Boxing Voice’s Nestor Gibbs, Jennings explained precisely why he rejected the offer to fight Ortiz.
“It wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s the boxing game. You got a lot of fights to be made,” Jennings said. “It takes a lot to make a fight. If they don’t meet the requirements on our standards, then we just don’t take it.”
When asked when we should expect to see him back in the ring, Jennings evaded the question.
“I’m good. I’m staying in shape and out of trouble,” he added. “I ain’t got no deterioration going on. I’m living, learning, and I’m watching closely.”
When pressured if he was bothered by his inconsistent ring appearances, Jennings appeared to get defensive.
“I’m consistent with life. Inconsistencies don’t bother me at all,” he rebutted. “At the end of the day, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on that people don’t know about, so you can’t be just jumping in and out of every situation.”
Jennings again reiterated that he has standards, they must be respected, and he won’t take a fight if those standards aren’t met, but he’s staying in shape during his hiatus.
“If it makes sense, I’m on it. I just sparred 12 rounds the other day – went straight through like it was nothing – everything is good,” Jennings assured.
“We’re just sitting back and waiting for the right opportunity, and we’re on it.”
Jennings will continue to have problems unless he faces reality. He’s not in a position to dictate the terms for another fighter, but that ultimately depends on who he fights.
Pre-sale ticket sales for Golovkin-Lemieux broke a Madison Square Garden record. Jennings’s decision to not take a fight, which would have been a tremendous opportunity to showcase his talent in front of a broader audience, speaks volumes.
Could Jennings be fooling everyone and preparing to sign with Al Haymon?
