by David P. Greisman

Steve Cunningham says he doesn’t really like to call the winners of other fights. He nevertheless broke down how he sees heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and challenger Bryant Jennings, who will meet on April 25.

Cunningham has a vested interest in that bout, given that his own March 14 fight against Vyacheslav Glazkov is a elimination bout for the right to fight for the International Boxing Federation belt, one of the three major world titles currently held by Klitschko.

“You got Wladimir, he’s a great fighter, he’s a historic fighter by now,” Cunningham said on a Feb. 18 media conference call. “He’s done things in the sport that many haven’t done. You can’t deny his pedigree. You can’t deny what he’s done. You can’t deny his work ethic. I’ve been in camp with him twice. I’ve seen how this man works. But with Jennings being young, strong, smart, still learning on the job, hungry, starving, he hasn’t been in camp with Wladimir, he hasn’t been on that level yet, which could be a plus for him.

“Dudes at that level can shake people. But with him not being there before, him just being a little bit ignorant to the scariness of it or some things that might shake some men, he can run right through it and do a job. If he touches Wladimir, we all know Wladimir doesn’t have the greatest chin, and Jennings is strong and athletic. He just has as much of a chance as anyone else do. I don’t really like to call fights, but I look at the plusses on both guys and the negatives on both guys. I know it’s going to be a good fight, period.”

And if Cunningham beats Glazkov, he’d of course be happy to face either Klitschko or Jennings.

“If Jennings wins, that would be an awesome fight. That would be a great fight to do in Philly,” Cunningham said, as both men are from Philadelphia. “I know we’ve been offered to fight Jennings and vice verse. We both turned it down. We do know each other, but you do want to make money, and a fight like that, if both of us are at the top of the division, to fight in Philly or in New York, that would be mega money. Let’s see what happens. If we get to that point, that’d be a great fight, and then after the fight we could take each other’s kids’ out to Dorney Park or something, spend that money together. I think it’d be a good fight for Philly. I think it would be a revitalization for Philly boxing.”

That doesn’t mean Jennings is his only preference.

“I’d love to face Wladimir. Like I said before, I’m a fighter and you put a challenge in front of me, man that drives. Oh, that’s a force I can’t even explain. If I get to face Wladimir, if you beat the man, then you’re considered the man. Going up against Wladimir would be like a dream come true. I’m an old-school fighter’s fighter. I want to fight the champion. I want to fight the biggest guy, the best guy. I want to pit myself against the challenge where people say, ‘Cunningham will not make it out’ and getting in and doing stuff that have people looking at me sideways like, ‘Wow, this dude right here is crazy, ‘cause he a beast.

“I love those challenges. I love to fight, period. If it’s Wladimir, I’m running towards the ring. If it’s Jennings, I’m running towards the ring. Stiverne, Wilder, it doesn’t matter. I love to fight. I love a challenge.”

Glazkov-Cunningham takes place in Montreal on the televised HBO undercard to Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com