Tonight at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, Luis Ortiz scored an impressive seventh round TKO victory over Bryant Jennings?
Tonight at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, Luis ?The Real King Kong? Ortiz scored an impressive seventh round TKO victory over Bryant ?By-By? Jennings. The Philadelphia native had his moments earlier this year when he tested heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko at New York?s Madison Square Garden, but tonight Ortiz was simply too much for him to handle. Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs), with the win, kept his perfect record intact and showed his mettle gained through more than 350 amateur fights in Cuba.
Fighting out of the southpaw stance, Ortiz landed several body blows in the opening seconds. Jennings (19-2, 10 KOs) responded with shots upstairs. The reach between the two fighters was equal and Ortiz held a slight advantage with a one-inch difference in height. Midway through the first, Jennings was tagged by a right hook followed by a straight left and retreated to the ropes. He was hurt and wisely held on to buy some time. Less than a minute later, another left wobbled Jennings. Ortiz was in the zone. He was finding the target with ease.
In the second, Jennings moved in closer and tried to target the soft body of the champion, who shortly thereafter connected with a hard right uppercut. ?By-By? was looking to stay away from Ortiz?s thunderous left at all costs, but he gave a little too much leeway about a minute into the third when ?The Real King Kong? landed another big left (this time an uppercut) that had Jennings on the ropes and out of sorts. Once again it didn?t hold as the Philly fighter reestablished his footing.
Ortiz easily won rounds one and three with his ability to repeatedly stun his opponent. Jennings asserted himself through much of the fourth. ?King Kong? danced and jabbed in the fifth as he watched Jennings withstand a hard left uppercut with about a minute to go.
The sixth was unlike the previous rounds. The two men used the ring and traded jabs. Jennings dug deep in the seventh. He caught Ortiz with a fine right hook but failed to capitalize. They leaned on one another in the center of the ring for the final minute of round six.
In the seventh, punches were exchanged until a perfectly timed double left uppercut floored Jennings for the first time in his professional career. He beat the count and appeared visibly frustrated. A right jab from Ortiz followed, which set up a short left hook to the challenger?s chin. ?By-By? stumbled backwards and into the ropes. Luis connected with another left hook which prompted referee Richard Podozki to stop the bout at 2:41 of round seven. Jennings bellowed in protest, but there was nothing to bellow about.
Following the stoppage, Ortiz expressed his desire to face the top fighters in the heavyweight division, while Jennings admitted that his limited time in the ring, as both an amateur and professional, made all the difference in the fight, especially compared to a seasoned warrior like Luis Ortiz.
