|
Many fighters talk
confidently about their careers, their upcoming fights and
their abilities. But few sell it like rising heavyweight
contender Bryant Jennings, 18-0, 10 KOs. The
Philadelphian’s confidence doesn’t just spit from the tip of
his tongue, it is thoroughly steeped all the way down to the
bones of his 225 pound body. He is as self-assured as any
fighter I’ve ever seen.
Saturday night at
Madison Square Garden, Jennings takes on Mike Perez, 20-0-1,
12 KOs, a promising Cuban who now calls Cork, Ireland home.
The fight is a 12-rounder to determine the #1 contender for
the WBC heavyweight title.
It’s the biggest fight
of Jennings’ career thus far. Then again, with the
whirlwind rise of “BY BY” Jennings, each of his past fights
has been described the very same way because the stakes in
each of those dates keeps getting higher. If Jennings wins,
we’ll be saying it next time too because that will be the
night he fights for the world heavyweight title. But let’s
not get ahead of ourselves. First up is Mike Perez.
Talk to me about
Mike Perez.
JENNINGS: “He’s just another opponent. I just plan to
be in the best of shape and come with my A-game.”
But Perez is undefeated and is highly regarded.
JENNINGS: “He’s undefeated? (Laughs) There are some
things even an undefeated person has that can be defeated.
Your lack of confidence. Your lack of will. Plus he has
a draw. I don’t believe in calling fighters with a draw
undefeated, especially when it was questionable. But that
part doesn’t matter. He’s just another person in the ring.
Whether it’s someone with a losing record or a winning
record, I look at that person the same way. They are trying
to take my zero away from me.”
Does his style remind you of anyone you’ve faced so far?
JENNINGS: “If I had to compare him to any one of my
opponents, I would compare him to Fedosov. He’s short, very
compact, a counter puncher. You know, Fedosov couldn’t
really move, and neither can Mike.”
Is the plan to go
for a knockout and make that type of a statement?
JENNINGS: “A win is a win. In this sport, a win is
always a win. Either way the win comes, it’s still a win.
A win is spelled with a “W”, loss is spelled with an “L”.
My W’s is more than my L’s. I love W’s. I’ll find a way to
W.”
Does this fight feel any different, given the stakes
involved?
JENNINGS: “It’s a big one. It’s a title eliminator,
but it’s not different at all.”
How do you feel
about fighting in the big room at Madison Square
Garden?
JENNINGS: “I don’t normally get excited about where I’m
fighting. The ring is the ring. You could put it in the
back yard. You could put it in the middle of a carnival.
The ring is the ring.”
A win in this fight earns you a shot for the WBC title
against the winner of Stiverne and Wilder. How does that
feel?
JENNINGS: “I’ll just be closer to my goal. It’s not
going to mean anything else. I’ll just he closer to my
goal. There’s still one more to focus on after that. My
next step is winning this fight and focusing closer on that
goal. Wladimir might say, ‘I want to fight an American,
you’re up next’. I don’t know how long I’m going to have to
wait. If it don’t come fast, then I have to be patient.
That’s one thing you have to learn. You have to be
patient.”
This fight with Perez was originally scheduled for May. Did
the postponement cause you any problems?
JENNINGS: “I didn’t really dwell on it. I’m still
alive; I’m still here, and the cancellation didn’t come at
my expense. In other words, I wasn’t the one that was
hurt. So that’s pressure I didn’t have to deal with.
That’s life, learn to deal with it. I got over it real
fast.”
So for the first time in your career you went away for
training camp?
JENNINGS: “I wanted to go away to Vegas to get on a
different plateau of focus, and that’s the reason. It’s
real tough training at home. Real tough. People know where
I live. People know my numbers. People know where to find
me. And it’s kind of aggravating when you’re so focused.”
Focus seems to be a big part of your preparation.
JENNINGS: “I don’t ever look beyond what’s in front of
me. I definitely map it out, but I don’t let what’s way
ahead, get me too distracted. Do I allow myself to look
ahead? I have it in the back of my mind, but I know the
only way to get ahead is to focus on what’s in front of
you. And that’s all I do.
You’ve had the dream of fighting for the championship for a
long time, but now you’re on the brink of actually doing
it. Where do you think you rank among the other
heavyweights today?
JENNINGS: “I’m all ready for the next level. I would
think I’m #2, behind Wladimir Klitschko, and I only say
Klitschko because Klitschko is Klitschko. He has a legacy
in this generation, in this era. Other than that, a lot of
them guys aren’t active either. A lot of them guys
aren’t complete either. A lot of them guys are just
not. They’re just not. They just got a lot of
talk.”
How are you different from the rest of the pack?
JENNINGS: “Most people’s handlers are bigger than their
fighters. So nowadays, these fighters don’t know how to be
superstars. Handlers, promoters, managers, they create a
superstar within a regular person. But that person don’t
really believe he’s a superstar, because their handlers are
bigger than them. They are like puppets. They are on
strings. You know? You cut one of those strings, they go
limp on you. I’m the type of person, I like to express who
I am. Like I can’t have Gary Shaw (his promoter) say who I
am. I speak for myself. I make sure I do it myself and
make sure the people believe me before they believe somebody
else that says something about me.”
You’re clearly your own man. How did you not become like
the rest of them?
JENNINGS: “As I was learning, I was allowed to express
myself and find out where I am without somebody telling me,
without somebody encouraging me. It’s just like swimming.
If you always have someone holding you up, saying ‘kick your
feet, kick your feet’, then it’s a different story when
you’re out there by yourself. In the gym, I have my trainer
(Fred Jenkins) giving me instructions. He can take those
instructions with me to the ring, but not in the
ring. Once I stand up and that bell rings, it’s a whole
different story. I’m on my own now. Only after every three
minutes, you get that one minute to go back and get that pep
talk from your trainer. But if I practice giving my own
self that pep talk, then everything he says to me is extra.
That may give me an extra boost sometimes, but I don’t
really need it because I’ve already practiced being that
fighter. I’m the one getting in the ring.”
What do you look for from your corner during a fight?
JENNINGS: “You go back to the corner for a pep talk.
‘You can do this, you can do this.’ Don’t ever tell me I
can do this, because I know I can do it. I’m here. I’m
sitting on this stool right now. I know I can do it. Just
give me instructions and that’s all I need. I know exactly
where I’m at. I’m a very hard-headed individual. For me
growing up, being hard-headed was one of the best things I
could have ever been. Why? Because I can’t be
manipulated. It’s hard for me to be misled because I’m
hard-headed, because I think I know it all. I knew a lot.
I didn’t know it all, but I knew a lot. I’m so glad I took
all those ass-whippings from my Mom, before I came out and
took a huge ass-whipping from the world. I didn’t listen to
my Mom because I always thought I knew. I’m an adult now.
There’s nothing more important to an adult than having your
own mind, having your own theories, your own everything.
You control your mind. You control yourself.”
Do you feel like you are in control of your destiny?
JENNINGS: “My motivation is to get through life. My
priority is to get through life. Get through what I need to
accomplish, my goals. I get in the ring, I fight. I do
what I’m supposed to do. I live how I’m supposed to live.
I eat how I’m supposed to eat. I listen to my trainer. I’m
a very respectful person. This is the craft that God has
set in my life for me to do. I’m a perfectionist. So this
is what I do to perfect it. All that other stuff, the
titles, the legacy, everything, all that comes later. I
just focus on my craft first. If I go out and run and I
work hard, then I know I’m in great shape. And I have faith
in myself first. Of course God steers my body, but I have
to be prepared. Most people have faith in God, but don’t
get out there on that track. God ain’t going to save you
that way. So I just use common sense and make sure I work
hard and have faith in God at the same time. That’s a very
good combination. I just want to get through life. Work
hard. I’m very disciplined with life, period. Boxing is a
lifestyle and I don’t just live it 6-8 weeks during training
camp. My light switch is never off.”
You are so confident as a fighter and as a person. When did
you know you could do all this?
JENNINGS: “It was in May 2009, in the Golden Glove
finals, five months after I started boxing. Right there was
the point of no return. (My trainer) told me, ‘even if you
don’t win this, you’ve done enough’. And that was it. Can
you imagine somebody walking into your gym and five months
later you’re in Salt Lake City, UT, in the National Golden
Glove Finals? That was it. The light switch was on ever
since then. And I’m just a hard worker at life. Tunnel
vision, shoot for the stars, and I’m focused.”
How do you feel about following in the footsteps of all the
great Philly boxing legends?
JENNINGS: “Being from Philly, and being the first
American heavyweight in a long time fuels my motivation.
But my motivation is to get through life. Philly is a tough
city. We have tough fans. We have tough civilians. One
minute they love you. One minute they hate you. They’re
tough on you. So you have to be near perfect in order to
please the Philly fans. So that just makes you work harder,
knowing that one mess-up can bring a lot of criticism. I’m
just trying to get everybody on one accord on something. If
nobody else is the type of person that can make that happen,
then I’m the perfect person to do it. Just making sure
everybody’s on one accord. No hate. Show love. Support
your own and let’s build this legacy.”
Can we expect an impressive win against Perez?
JENNINGS: “Most of the time, I don’t look to
impress. I just happen to be impressive. I’m a fighter,
and I’m a puncher, and I’m a mover, and I’m a defender.
That’s just what it is. I’m fighting for me, my son, my
family, the people that surround me, and my loved ones.”
|
