Prizefighter Featherweight Lee Jennings: "Records don't bother me"
Liverpool's Lee Jennings (5-2) insists that he can upset the odds in the 22nd edition of Matchroom Sport’s eight-man, seven lots of 3 x 3's tournament this Saturday.
In his last fight back in June, Jennings stopped the previously unbeaten Carl Truman (now 8-1) just over two minutes into the opening round. After three years as a pro, he insists that he can upset the odds again.
He said: “I’ve been around for a long time and things like records really don’t bother me. Maybe I wasn’t meant to beat Chris Truman on paper – he was 7-0 and I was coming in off my second loss in six fights as a pro.
“But that just proves my point about records – they don’t mean anything really, if you prepare properly and believe in yourself, anything can happen on the night and that could be the case for any of us tonight.”
The Liverpool boxer had 80 fights as an amateur and hopes that experience will benefit him over the three-round distance. He said: “Sometimes I wish I had turned over sooner but I’m here now and I don’t want to dwell on it. I started training when I was ten, had my first fight when I was 11. It was a long amateur career but I enjoyed all of it and all my friends were in the gym with me so it was great, a really huge part of my life and a very enjoyable one.”
The boxing scene in Jennings’ home city is thriving, with names such as Tony Bellew, David Price, Derry Matthews and Rocky Fielding, who won the Prizefighter Super-Middleweights earlier this year. Now Jennings wants to become the latest scouse star.
He said: “There’s a real buzz around the city with some top lads and some real potential stars and Liverpool is really proving to be the boxing heartland of the North West now, taking over from Manchester.
“With the boxing scene so vibrant up there, there’s going to be lots of massive shows in the city in the Echo Arena and in the Olympia. Winning Prizefighter could get me on those bills and hopefully topping them soon too.”
In Jennings’ way tomorrow night is the Mongolian Warrior Choi Tseveenpurev (32-5), unbeaten pair Lee Glover (6-0 from Tipton) and Troy James (9-0-1 from Coventry), TRAD TKO gym pals George Jupp (3-1) and Ian Bailey (7-7), Manchester prospect Rhys Roberts (13-1) and Nottingham’s Barrington Brown (5-5-3).
Before the tournament gets underway, Enfield's Andreas Evangelou (2-0) appears as the latest Prizefighter Prospect over four threes.
Weights
Ian Bailey (9st 14oz)
Barrington Brown (9st 1lb 7oz)
Choi Tseveenpurev (9st 1lb 6oz)
Lee Glover (9st 1lb 8oz)
Troy James (9st 1lb 3oz)
Lee Jennings (9st 13lb 8oz)
George Jupp (9st 1lb 2oz)
Rhys Roberts (9st 1lb 5oz)
Reserves:
Dai Davies (9st 1lb) and Davey Savage Jr. (9st 12oz)
A limited number of unreserved tickets will be available on the door from 6.30pm at York Hall, Bethnal Green priced at £35. The action is televised on Sky Sports from 8.00pm
Photo: Lawrence Lustig
