Getty Bryant Jennings will fight Oscar Rivas.
Bryant Jennings and Oscar Rivas will meet in the heavyweight main event of a Top Rank Boxing card at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, on Friday. Featherweights Shakur Stevenson and Jessie Cris Rosales will square off in the co-feature.
In the United States, the undercard will start at 6:15 p.m. ET, while the main card–which features Stevenson vs Rosales and Jennings vs Rivas–starts at 9:30 p.m. ET.
It won’t be televised, but you can watch a live stream of the entire fight card on your computer, phone or streaming device via ESPN+, the new digital streaming service from ESPN (no cable required) that has exclusive coverage to dozens of live sporting events every day.
You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Jennings vs Rivas, Stevenson vs Rosales and all the other fights on the card on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the ESPN app.
Jennings vs Rivas Preview
Jennings (24-2) had a rough 2015, losing in a title bout against Wladimir Klitschko, then falling to Luis Ortiz eight months later.
He began working with trainer John David Jackson before the Ortiz loss.
“It’s a fight that I didn’t want,” Jackson said, according to ESPN. “I told him, ‘I don’t want this fight for you,’ and he said, ‘John, it’s the only fight they’re going to get me’ and so he had no other choice. So we took the fight, he did fairly well, he got caught with a shot he shouldn’t have got caught with and the rest is history, we lost the fight.
Jennings, a 34-year-old from Philadelphia, didn’t fight for 20 months, but he’s gone 5-0 since then.
“But since that point, he’s improved a lot,” Jackson added. “It’s been a slow improvement but it’s coming together for him, and the things he’s doing in camp for this fight are the things he needs to do as a professional fighter. I’m showing him how to fight on the inside now and different things.”
Oscar “Kaboom” Rivas (25-0) earned his nickname from trainer Marc Ramsay, who watched the heavyweight spar with Bermane Stiverne before Rivas’ professional debut.
“It was his first full round here in Quebec with Bermane Stiverne, who was was not yet the heavyweight champion but he was on his way,” Ramsay told Boxing Scene. “They were just throwing bombs, and when Oscar finished, I just told him you seem to go for the big bombs all of the time. The way you fight, it’s like ‘Kaboom!’”
Stevenson vs Rosales Preview
Stevenson (9-0), owner of the IBF Intercontinental and WBC Continental Americas featherweight belts, is one of the most highly touted prospects in the division. The 21-year-old American won gold at the 2014 AIBA Youth World Championships and 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, then claimed silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
The southpaw’s performance on the world stage at age 19 caught the attention of undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“The first time I ever saw him box, I saw him at the Mayweather Boxing Club and we were interested [in signing him],” Mayweather said after Stevenson advanced to the semifinals at the Olympics, according to Yahoo Sports. “We thought he was a pro because he was boxing another up-and-coming top fighter, and he looked unbelievable.”
Mayweather added: “I see the next Floyd Mayweather. If anybody can break my records, this young kid here can do it. I truly believe in him.”
Rosales (22-1-1) responded to his first defeat by knocking Ibrahim Balla out in the second round in Australia on March 11.
“I’m very shocked,” the 26-year-old from the Philippines said after his 10th career knockout, according to The Ring. “It’s a big comeback from my first loss.”
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