by David P. Greisman

You can forgive Bryant Jennings for still being in the moment when he says that he felt like he won the fight against Wladimir Klitschko this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Klitschko took the unanimous decision by a safe margin.

“I believe that I won, especially from the way that I feel. I did what I was supposed to do. Didn’t get caught with any flush shots. I did better than a lot of people. Even though I thought I won. I’m not just satisfied with saying I did good,” Jennings said afterward. “It proved that I have what it takes. I really think I won the fight, if not closer scorecards. But I’m not bitter. I’m not upset. I’m good.”

Jennings said he remains confident and was proud that he defied the expectations of people who felt he stood no chance against Klitschko.

“You already know what I’m calling for. Let’s do this thing again,” Jennings said. “I seen him huffing and puffing. I brought it to him every single around, and whatever that steelhammer was, it didn’t penetrate this inexperienced, too small, very little, bad footwork — I heard it all. Man, please.”

Beyond taking Klitschko’s punches well, Jennings said that the clinching “didn’t really bother me.”

“I adjusted to it. It didn’t necessarily felt like it looked when I watched any of his previous fights. I think I dealt with it pretty good. Them body shots was getting off when I was getting clinched. Those are scoring,” he said.

And Jennings felt the body shots were taking a toll on Klitschko.

“I felt him fading. He got hit with a lot of body shots. And I just couldn’t get to the chin,” Jennings said. “In fact, I didn’t really even try because his prevent is pretty effective, and he leans back a lot. I didn’t want to get caught reaching or throwing a wild shot. Therefore, I just stayed at the body. That chin was ready to go if I would’ve caught him. His body was weak enough to be able to have an effect on that chin once it got hit one time.”

Jennings described Klitschko as very tough and very strong, but he also said he felt stronger than Klitscho. He said it wasn’t his toughest fight, though not really because of anything related to Klitschko. Jennings’ toughest fight, he said, was when he fought Maurice Byarm on five days notice in early 2012, fighting through exhaustion to win a 10-round decision.

Still, he came out with his first pro defeat against Klitschko, albeit in a manner much different than the way some expected it to happen.

“I think I went out there and did what I was supposed to do, and it’s actually magnified because of the expectancy level from everybody else. Me doing that was unexpected,” Jennings said. “Even in a loss, they should — not praise me — but be saluting and showing respect.”

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