Bryant Jennings Warns: Maybe I Hit Like A Mule, Too

By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Bryant Jennings didn’t understand Kubrat Pulev’s reckless strategy throughout the previously unbeaten Bulgarian contender’s fifth-round knockout loss to Wladimir Klitschko.

Pulev (20-1, 11 KOs) strangely tried to trade with the hard-hitting Klitschko (63-3, 53 KOs) and paid dearly during their Nov. 15 heavyweight title fight in Hamburg, Germany. Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs) intends to be much more measured against Klitschko when they square off Saturday night for Klitschko’s IBF/WBA/WBO championships at Madison Square Garden (HBO; 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).

“Pulev didn’t have any defense and he could’ve been a little more tactical,” Jennings said. “He could’ve used some more feints and circled the ring a little bit. He stood right there in front of him, thinking he was going to go around that. You’ve got to work your way in and you’ve got to be patient. It takes a couple rounds to adjust.”

Philadelphia’s Jennings realizes, of course, that he literally and figuratively faces a tall order against the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Klitschko, who has won 21 straight fights and made 17 consecutive title defenses.

“Klitschko’s a big, strong guy,” Jennings said. “Who knows? Maybe he hits like a mule. But who knows? Maybe when he gets hit, he’ll see that I hit like a mule.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.