Deontay Wilder Sees Klitschko Beating Jennings Easily

by David P. Greisman

Deontay Wilder will be an interested observer when Wladimir Klitschko takes on Bryant Jennings tonight in New York City on HBO. Klitschko is the true heavyweight champ and holds three of the four major world titles. Wilder holds the fourth.

And Klitschko is the person Wilder thinks will be left standing for him to face after this weekend is over.

“I got Klitschko winning easy, of course. But you got to keep in mind that boxing’s a sport where anyone can win. It’s one punch away, especially in the heavyweight division,” Wilder told BoxingScene.com on April 24. “Klitschko been around a lot. He know how to keep his distance. He know how to keep his form and that’s what he’s been doing for long. I don’t care what people say about him clinching and stuff. He finds a way to win. He’s the more experienced guy. I do believe he’s going to become victorious at the end of the night because of those reasons.”

Wilder hasn’t been impressed with what Jennings brings to the table.

“With Jennings you’ve got a younger guy, no amateur background, no experience with the taller fighters. That’s going to hurt him very bad,” Wilder said. “I think having an amateur career definitely puts a guy at a certain level. It just does. Without an amateur career, you learn on the way up. With that being said, everybody got a chance because it’s boxing, but Jennings is not going to win the fight. Fighting a taller fighter as good as Wladimir, to be able to keep his distance back like that, it’s going to be tough.”

Jennings is coming off a particularly narrow win over Mike Perez, and Wilder says the way Jennings looked in that bout does not bode well for a clash with Klitschko.

“If you look back at the Mike Perez fight, he came out very nervous due to a 6-feet or 6-1 guy,” Wilder said. “Imagine what he’s going to do with a 6-6 guy that’s been dominating the division for over 10 years.”

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