Boxing: Bryant Jennings Takes Aim at Luis Ortiz, Wladimir Klitschko

Bryant Jennings has a lot of confidence in himself.

After suffering his first professional setback against Wladimir Klitschko in April, the Philadelphia heavyweight knows what is is like to lose. But that defeat has not jostled his self-belief.

Jennings is calling his upcoming fight against Luis Ortiz (23-0, 20 KOs) -- a scheduled 12-rounder on HBO set for Dec. 19 at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. -- more or less a confidence booster. Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs) didn’t spare Ortiz, or the recently deposed Klitschko any flak when he spoke to the media on Thursday during a conference call for the Golden Boy-promoted fight.

It didn’t escape Jennings that Ortiz, who has an extensive amateur background from the Cuban Olympic program and what is perceived as awesome punching power, tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone. That failure came after stopping Lateef Kayode in the first round on Sept. 11, 2014, in a bout later ruled a no-contest by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

“I know what it’s like to be the underdog. I know what it’s like to get hit and have close fights,” Jennings said. “Just because a guy is deep in experience as an amateur doesn’t mean that you’re going to be the best professional. [Ortiz] hasn’t really seen a real fighter, so therefore, he has to go back to when he dominated, which is the amateurs, which is probably 20 years ago, because the guy is 36 years old. And then you look at the fact that the guy had steroid use. Why must a person as confident as he sounds need to enhance himself with any drugs? So, you have to ask yourself, how confident was this person? Coming into this fight, he has to build himself up. He has to know what’s coming. He has to prove it on the 19th. If he doesn’t prove it, that will shut him down completely. That’s my plan.”

Jennings also took a shot at Klitschko, who looked horrible in losing a unanimous decision to Tyson Fury on Nov. 28.

“I think there’s something probably wrong with Klitschko on the inside,” Jennings said. “I thought he fought himself mentally. Something is going there that’s not there. If you saw a little bit of his fight, then you’ve seen all of it against Tyson Fury. Something is definitely wrong.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.