Junior middleweight is Jordan Panthen’s division – not just because of his body, but also because he feels it’s where he can put together quite a body of work.
The 27-year-old prospect turned pro two years ago at super middleweight, had his second and third bouts slightly over the junior middleweight limit, and then proceeded to compete at or around 160 pounds. But in his most recent appearance this June, Panthen came in at 155.5 and knocked out Victor Toney in three rounds. That moved him to 9-0 (8 KOs).
“I feel great. I fought at 155 already twice before. I was never really a middleweight. It’s just sometimes fighters want to fight at a certain weight – not me – the opponents,” Panthen said in a recent interview with Randy Gordon and Gerry Cooney, the hosts of “At the Fights” on SiriusXM. “In the April fight, I fought at 161, not because I wanted to but because the other guy wouldn’t come lower. That’s kind of how it went. But from here on, now I’ll be fighting at junior middleweight.”
Panthen said he walks around at about 170 pounds, that he felt super-strong with the weight cut and that he rehydrated well. He sees an eventual move back up to middleweight.
“But for the time being, for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here at 154 making some noise,” he said. “I feel strong at 154. I could make ’47 if I really, really wanted to. I don’t feel the need to do that and whatnot. I don’t want to do that.”
Panthen is pretty good at making noise, at least verbally. While he has yet to proceed past the level of opponents faced by fighters this early in their career, Panthen thinks he could take out many of the other up-and-comers and a few of the more established names at junior middleweight. As Gordon and Cooney brought up names, Panthen tore them down.
Erickson Lubin, Josh Kelly and Brian Mendoza?
“I could see myself fighting those guys in a couple of fights,” Panthen said. “I see myself in the mix with everybody within five fights, by the end of next year. I’ll be in the mix with all those guys. And I’m a problem for every single one of them. And I beat every single one of them.”
Xander Zayas, Callum Walsh, Fernando Vargas Jr. and Vito Mielnicki Jr.?
“I’ll eat all four of them alive,” Panthen said. “Callum Walsh, I’ll fight him in boxing and in MMA. The best fighter of all the ones you mentioned is Xander, but I still eat him alive. Vito Mielnicki, three rounds or less. Fernando Vargas Jr., who has he fought? I’ll eat him alive. Living off his dad’s name.
“They’re not on my level. For me to know these things, for them to be mentioned in the same breath as me, is almost a shade at me. In two years they won’t be mentioned in the same breath as me. Once I fight them? Callum Walsh, I will walk him down and pummel him. Xander, good jab, good cardio, but he’s not as strong as me, he’s not as fast as me, not as explosive. His last performance, against that tall, skinny southpaw [Patrick Teixeira]. He couldn’t get him out of there. The guy he last fought I would’ve destroyed in four rounds or less.”
Panthen recently signed with Golden Boy Promotions, which has the fighter even more excited about his future. And being at junior middleweight only adds to that excitement, not just because of those other young prospects but also because the weight class is packed full of notable contenders and titleholders.
“I think the 154-pound division is the hottest division in boxing right now,” Panthen said. “Not just now, but for years to come – and I think it’s right for me. I will thrive in the moments of pressure, tough fights. There are a lot of tough fighters at 154. It’s not the easy division. This is a tough division. That doesn’t shy me away. That excites me. There’s a lot of good fights to make. I think that’s right up my alley. I’ll make a fight exciting even if the guy’s boring, but if I’ve got another person playing the part, it makes it that much easier. It makes it that much better.”
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.