By Ryan Burton
On January 25th, Bryant Jennings (17-0) will face Artur Szpilka (16-0) at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight will be Jennings' HBO debut and he plans on taking full advantage of his opportunity.
"This is has been a long time coming. We have worked hard to get to the big stage to showcase our skills," said Jennings.
The Philadelphia native had a very active schedule his first three years as a professional, fighting at least five each year. That changed in 2013 as Jennings only appeared in the ring once, stopping Andrey Fedosov in June.
Jennings said that he had issues outside of the ring that he had to take care of and that he plans on being much more active in 2014.
“Well you know my progress was slowed down. I was trying to tackle some things on the outside of my boxing, get things straight. There was a lot of conflict therefore I was only able to fight one time,“ Jennings explained.
Even with the long layoff Jennings said that he isn't worried about ring rust. He said that he still spent a lot of time in the gym.
"I don't worry about it. I don't sit around. I am a very active individual throughout the whole year," Jennings stated.
The 29-year old hopes to fight for a title in 2014 and sees Szpilka as the next step on the road to becoming a champion. He said that he doesn't see anything special in the Pole and that he plans on controlling the action and making him fight his fight.
"You know me. I am not the type to force a knockout. I just do my thing. If the knockout comes it comes.
"I really don't think (much) of him. He's an opponent. What more can I say?" Jennings told BoxingScene.com.
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