Jennings' fight canceled
Bryant Jennings' opponent in the heavyweight eliminator bout, Mike Perez, has a shoulder injury.
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FIFTEEN DAYS before he was to fight in a title eliminator bout, Philadelphia heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings learned he will have to wait a bit longer to get back in the ring.
Jennings' May 24 fight was canceled Friday night after his opponent, Mike Perez, suffered a shoulder injury in training. Perez is flying back to Ireland, where he lives, to see a specialist, according to his promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions.
Loeffler and Jennings' promoter, Gary Shaw of Gary Shaw Productions, each expressed hope that the fight can be rescheduled.
"When I received the news this afternoon that Perez got injured, I felt so bad for Bryant because I know how hard he trained for this fight and how much he was looking forward to fighting for this WBC elimination bout," Shaw said in a statement.
Jennings, 29, had been training in Houston for the fight, his 19th since his pro debut in 2010. He is 18-0 with 10 knockouts. Perez, a southpaw, is 20-0-1 with 12 knockouts. The victor of their bout was set to get a mandatory shot at the title.
- Jake Kaplan