
Veteran heavyweight contenders Bryant Jennings and Alexander Dimitrenko will take center stage when they square off in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Aug. 18 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Top Rank announced on Wednesday.
The scheduled 12-round fight will take place at the new Ocean Resort Casino, which opens on Thursday on the property previously occupied by the Revel.
In the 10-round co-feature, super middleweight contender Jesse Hart will face Mike Gavronski (24-2-1, 15 KOs).
Both fights will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes beginning at 10 p.m. ET with the entire card to stream live on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
Jennings and Hart, both from Philadelphia, will essentially be fighting at home considering how close Philly is to Atlantic City.
After Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs), 33, lost back-to-back fights in 2015 -- a world title shot to then-unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and top contender Luis "King Kong" Ortiz -- he went idle for 20 months because of a contract beef with his former promoter. But he's been keeping busy since signing with Top Rank in mid-2017 and has won four fights in a row, most recently a one-sided 10-round decision win over Philadelphia rival Joey Dawejko on April 28.
But Dimitrenko marks a step up in competition for him since his return.
"Dimitrenko is a big, competitive fighter," the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Jennings said. "I worked very hard to gain my position in the heavyweight division. Every fight for me is a risk. While I'm confident in myself, I don't take any opponent lightly. Boxing fans can expect me to bring my best."
The 6-7, 255-pound Dimitrenko (41-3, 26 KOs) has won three fights in a row since a third-round knockout loss to former heavyweight world titleholder Joseph Parker in October 2016. Dimitrenko, a 35-year-old Russia native fighting out of Germany, will be fighting in the United States for the first time since his sixth pro fight took place in Las Vegas in 2002.
"I am looking forward to this fight, as this is an opportunity to advance in the heavyweight division," Dimitrenko said. "I love to train and push myself to the limit. I want to be great. I've never had so much fun in boxing. The fight against Jennings comes at just the right time, and I will take advantage of this opportunity."
Hart (24-1, 20 KOs), 29, is working his way toward another shot at a world title. He dropped a hard-fought decision to 168-pound titleholder Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez in September and has won both of his fights since by knockout, including a seventh-round stoppage of Demond Nicholson on the same April 28 card as Jennings' last fight.
"I'm excited to be back in Atlantic City. I know that my hometown fans will show up, and I will put on a spectacular performance," said Hart, the son of 1970s middleweight contender Eugene "Cyclone" Hart. "Gavronski is a good test. He's durable, and I know this fight will be great for boxing and boxing fans."
Gavronski (24-2-1, 15 KOs), 32, of Tacoma, Washington, will be taking on the most significant opponent of his career. He is 4-0 with a no-contest since an eighth-round knockout loss to sub-.500 journeyman Dashon Johnson in November 2015.
"This is what you live for," Gavronski said. "Hart is a tough guy who can do a lot of nice things. I just think I can do them a lot better. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I am willing to fight anybody. I love the challenge."
Also on the card
2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson (7-0, 4 KOs), 20, of Newark, New Jersey, and one of boxing's elite prospects, will face Carlos Ruiz (16-4-2, 6 KOs), 25, of Mexico, in an eight-round featherweight bout. Former secondary junior lightweight world titlist Jason Sosa (20-3-4, 15 KOs) 30, of Camden, New Jersey, will take on Reynaldo Blanco (14-4, 8 KOs), 31, of the Dominican Republic, in an eight-rounder. Sosa will look to end a two-fight losing skid in which he lost a majority decision to former world titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa and a suffered a ninth-round knockout to Vasiliy Lomachenko in a junior lightweight world title fight.Other fights announced include Philadelphia bantamweight Christian Carto (15-0, 11 KOs) against Mexico's Javier Gallo (25-15-1, 13 KOs) in an eight-rounder; Atlantic City's Thomas "Cornflake" LaManna (25-2-1, 9 KOs) against Greensboro, North Carolina's Matthew Strode (25-6, 9 KOs) in an eight-round junior middleweight fights; Allentown, Pennsylvania junior lightweight prospect Joseph Adorno (7-0, 7 KOs), who is also scheduled to fight July 7, in a six-rounder against an opponent to be determined; and Ukrainian heavyweight prospect Oleksandr Teslenko (13-0, 11 KOs) against an opponent to be named in a six- or eight-round fight.