By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Bryant Jennings isn’t bothered by the odds that heavily favor Wladimir Klistchko as their heavyweight title fight nears.

The hulking Ukrainian champion is about a 14-1 favorite over Philadelphia’s Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs), who has boxed for just six years combined as an amateur (one year) and pro (five years).

“I don’t care about that,” Jennings, 30, said. “I always like to be the underdog.”

The 39-year-old Klitschko (63-3, 53 KOs) hasn’t lost since April 2004, when Lamon Brewster upset him by fifth-round technical knockout. The charismatic, college-educated Olympic gold medalist has won 21 fights in a row since Brewster beat him.

He also has made 17 straight defenses of the IBF/IBO titles he won against Chris Byrd in April 2006 and owns the WBA and WBO championships. His heavyweight championship reign is the second-longest in boxing history, behind only Joe Louis, as he heads toward a 12-round fight against Jennings on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden (HBO; 10 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. ET).

“He’s been around for a long time,” Jennings said. “A lot of people have been around for a long time. I don’t really worry about that. My time is now and his time is about to end.”

Jennings was 19 the last time Klitschko lost, still almost five years away from boxing for the first time. He respectfully acknowledged this week that he didn’t even know who Klitschko was when he lost to Brewster and didn’t watch the fight on television.

Despite a split-decision victory over previously unbeaten Cuban Mike Perez (21-1-1, 13 KOs) in his last fight, Jennings is viewed the way Brewster was before he stopped an exhausted Klitschko 11 years ago. Jennings and his handlers think Klitschko and his representatives consider Jennings a safe foe for the dominant champion.

“If they felt any different, we wouldn’t have gotten the fight,” said Gary Shaw, Jennings’ promoter. “That’s how we got the fight, because they think it’s just another guy.”

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.