On any other night of boxing, Bryant Jennings would have been the major buzz. The active and entertaining, fast moving heavyweight contender fought on his fifth fight this year, with four of them being on NBC Sports Network. This Saturday, Jennings returned to his home of Philadelphia and headlined his second card. Shadowed by the fourth showdown of Manny Pacquaio and Juan Manuel Marquez, Jennings still put on a show that sent a message throughout the boxing world.
Bowie Tupou, a big, heavy-handed fighter from Tonga, seemed to be a test, but possessed nothing that Jennings had not seen before. When stepping into the ring, it was apparent that Tupou would 
pose the biggest challenge for Jennings in his career. Rounds 1 and 2 were very well paced, feel out rounds with neither man dominating. In round 3, the fireworks began. With a faster tempo, both men began to engage a little more. Towards the middle of the round, Tupou landed a glancing overhand right to the top of Jennings head as Jennings circled the ring. With a buckled leg and an obvious equilibrium disruption, Jennings went down. The third man in the ring called the knockdown a slip. Jennings looked dazed and Tupou looked confused for not being credited with a knockdown. In what has been a rare occurrence, Jennings held and muffled most of Tupou’s punches the rest of the round. Jennings was hurt, regardless if the knockdown was official. In the fourth, eyes were on Jennings to see him begin his uphill battle. Jennings and Tupou exchanged in a nice, even round, allowing everyone to see that Jennings was okay. In the fifth, the tides turned. Although Jennings was the fighter who tasted canvas, few realized the effect that his punches were making on Tupou. Early in the fifth, Jennings committed to hooks to the head and body. With Tupou seeming to take these shots and Jennings coming on strong, what then looked to be a one punch knockout was a cumulation of the shots Tupou had been taking the past two rounds. After landing some vicious left hooks tenderizing Tupou, Jennings put in the finishing combination.
A punishing left hook downstairs followed by a digging right to the body; move upstairs with a hard right hook, left hook combo to the head leading to the finishing, one punch knockout looking right uppercut. Tupou was on his back, arms at his sides. With a fast count, Tupou tried popping up at the count of 8, but it was too late. Jennings secured a victory with an incredible knockout.
After fighting five times this year, against good opposition, it will be interesting to see who is next for Bryant Jennings.
In the undercard, replacement Eric Hunter dominated the previously unbeaten Jerry Belmontes. Belmontes, the taller, longer fighter could not implement any effective game plan as Hunter outworked Belmontes to a ten round unanimous decision. Belmontes-Hunter and Tupou-Jennings are perfect examples of the quality, unpredictable and competitive fights NBC Sports, Main Events and Peltz Boxing have put on all year. Belmontes, a Main Events, undefeated fighter, lost to the Philly native Hunter. Tupou dropped Jennings who later returned to win via knockout. Explosive and unpredictable. To end the year, tune in to see if Steve Cunningham can avenge his cruiserweight loss to Tomasz Adamek.