A twelfth round finish from no where stole the show.
For eleven rounds, Top Rank on ESPN+’s main event heavyweight bout between house fighter Bryant Jennings (24-3, 14 KOs) and Montreal based contender Oscar Rivas (26-0, 18 KOs) was not the most exciting affair. The early rounds especially were a tentative mess of two styles clashing in all ways but violently. Both men’s natural instincts were to stay at a range and compete at a pace that results in very few telling blows in the first half of the fight. Jennings would get his jab going briefly and Rivas would fire a powerful combination into the favored fighter’s guard on occasion, but none of it was sustained.
The second fight of the half was better by comparison, though still far from a good fight. The Philly big man seemed to feel more comfortable in there and he opened up a bit at times. This result both in a little success for him here and there, but also opportunities for his unbeaten opponent to work in counter combinations of his own. Despite what the punch stats would later say in favoring Jennings because of these rounds, the fight very much seemed potentially in the balance going into the twelfth round. I had Bryant Jennings up one point. A draw seemed very realistic.
Oscar Rivas had other plans though. The Montreal based Colombian transplant launched an all out attack just a few seconds into the final frame. I don’t know if this came through on television, but hilariously Jennings began suffering this assault right after the live crowd began a USA chant to motivate him. It backfired. A couple solid shots had Jennings reeling to the ropes. From there, Rivas just kept launching. Only one really clean shot landed in the follow up flurry, but it was enough to drop the former title challenger. Bryant made it to his feet only for Oscar to continue the assault and put him down with one more barrage. Seemingly out of no where the fight was over with Oscar Rivas celebrating in the ring.
Post-fight Rivas credited his corner with properly motivating him to come out aggressive in the final round while Jennings first jokingly blamed the venue, the site of his other stoppage loss as well, but basically just dejectedly repeating “it is what it is” over and over while noting his age.
Prior to the tedious until it suddenly wasn’t main event, rising star Shakur Stevenson (10-0, 6 KOs) got into double digits in the win column by absolutely tearing apart Filipino foe Jessie Rosales (22-2-1, 10 KOs) in four rounds. The 21 year old rising star opened the first two rounds by doing his thing in there. He moved rapidly around the ring in a way that entirely neutralized Rosales’s ability to work while peppering his helpless opponent with sharp blows in return. Something clicked in the third, however, and Stevenson began to hold his ground and fight in a way he hadn’t shown much of before. This resulted in Rosales having a little success to the body now that he could find Shakur at first, but it didn’t take long for the true talent to assert itself on the inside too. Stevenson was lighting up Rosales in the trenches by the fourth round and the finish came on a short, precise shot from that range.
Post-fight Stevenson called out IBF titleholder Josh Warrington. Promoter Bob Arum came out and said he was on board if Warrington’s people were too. It is a very makeable fight as Arum and Frank Warren work closely together, but I do have to wonder how much interest is really on each side. Does Top Rank want to risk their young star before he is even really close to full developed? Does Queensbury want to put their new big titleholder in with a relative novice who might rip away all Warrington has gained in one night? I have my doubts.
