Bryant Jennings confident as he preps for Wladimir Klitschko bout

BRYANT "BY-BY" Jennings did not wait for the question to be completed before he hastily interceded.

"When I win," the North Philadelphia heavyweight said when a teleconference question concerning his fight Saturday against heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko contained the qualifier, "if."

Jennings, 30, knows he is a heavy underdog against Klitschko, the 39-year-old Ukrainian who has held at least one piece of the world heavyweight championship since defeating Chris Byrd for the International Boxing Federation belt in 2006.

Still, Jennings has gone through too much since deciding to become a boxer 6 years ago to lose confidence, now that he has an opportunity to fulfill his dreams and change his life.

If Jennings (19-0, 10 knockouts) loses to Klitschko (63-3, 53 KO) at Madison Square Garden, it will not be because of a sudden absence of faith in himself.

"This is great point in my life," said Jennings, the former three-sport athlete at Ben Franklin High who took up boxing late and didn't make his professional debut until 2010, when he was 25. "It's part of history.

"You don't find every day in any profession where you get to the top of it. I'm very aware of my blessings and my purpose here.

"Just 5 or 6 years ago, I had no idea that I would be near anything like this."

In 6 years, Jennings has gone from a guy who tried boxing because he wanted to do more with his athletic ability than play recreation-league basketball to having the chance to win the IBF, World Boxing Association, World Boxing Organization, International Boxing Organization and The Ring belts.

To realize the dream of joining "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon as the only other Philadelphia-born world heavyweight champion, Jennings must find a way through Klitschko, who is second to Joe Louis (11 years, 8 months, 8 days) for longest heavyweight title reign.

If you include his "super" title recognition, Klitschko's 22 consecutive defenses is also second to Louis (25). In two separate reigns, he has successfully defended the heavyweight belt 27 times.

"[Klitschko] being a boxer, period, counts as a challenge, especially a heavyweight," Jennings said, who was 3 years away from trying boxing when Klitschko defeated Byrd. "One punch from a heavyweight has the power to pretty much put any man down. Wladimir is a very dedicated fighter and athlete.

"But there are attributes I bring to the table, the same as those. Experience plays a part, but not a big part, because we've seen situations where the less experienced guy comes out on top.

"I don't play that experience game, because everybody who I've faced has been more experienced than me. I first put on gloves 6 years ago and here I am, fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world."

Klitschko, the 1996 super heavyweight Olympic gold medalist who goes by the colorful nickname of "Dr. Steelhammer," would be the first to tell Jennings this could be a life-altering moment.

"When I first became heavyweight champion of the world 15 years ago in 2000, it was an amazing moment," said Klitschko, who defended his first title five times before suffering what The Ring labeled the "Upset of the Year for 2003" when he was knocked out by unheralded South African fighter Corrie Sanders. "I remember clearly how it was. It became additional motivation to continue doing what I was doing.

"Bryant Jennings is fighting for a lot. He is fighting for his pride, but he is also fighting for a lot of financial assets. It is an opportunity to literally change the life for yourself and your family."

Jennings, who also is a building mechanic at the Federal Reserve Bank, moved his training camp out of Philadelphia to Houston, taking himself away from his family, but also eliminating distractions.

"At home, you can get overwhelmed with friends and everybody trying to stop in," Jennings said. "They don't mean any harm, but it interferes, because I am trying to focus.

"It is a sacrifice having to leave my family, but I had to get away. Otherwise, you get bombarded all day."

Jennings is the first to acknowledge he did not have much of a plan when he first walked into the ABC Recreation Center in North Philly and told veteran trainer Fred Jenkins he wanted to become a professional boxer.

Still, his belief in himself is something he's always had. He will it take into the ring against Klitschko.

"People don't look at the possibility that this fight could go either way," Jennings said. "Do you know how many heavyweights that have come from Philadelphia that never even got close to a chance to fight for the championship?

"I'll be the fourth Philly-born heavyweight to ever fight for the title, and just the second Philly-born heavyweight to ever be champion, once I win on April 25."

Columns: ph.ly/Smallwood