New York - Wladimir Klitschko will match Joe Louis in boxing's record books with his 27th heavyweight title fight and could set more marks since he has no plans to retire anytime soon.
The 39-year-old Ukrainian, speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday's fight against American Bryant Jennings at New York's Madison Square Garden, has dominated the heavyweight division for nearly a decade and shown no signs of slowing down.
“As long as I have motivation and health, I'll do it. I don't feel old, or bad, or slow,” said Klitschko, who has 17 successful defenses in a row since winning the crown for the second time in 2006.
“What could be cooler, or better, than to be the best man on the planet and beating up people for a living?”
The 6-foot-6 Ukrainian boasts a 63-3-0 record heading into the bout against Jennings, who is 19-0 since taking up boxing six years ago.
But the 30-year-old challenger from Philadelphia is not impressed by Klitschko's accomplishments and plans on starting a new reign.
“My first edge is youth. Youth is always an edge that you can't deny. Speed. Speed is an edge. These are things that are obvious,” said Jennings.
Despite a three-inch height advantage in Klitschko's favor, Jennings enjoys the same edge in reach, which could help him keep the champion at bay with jabs.
Youthful exuberance may go only so far against Klitschko, who has shown himself a master technician during his long run.
Klitschko, who would also move within one of Larry Holmes's 19 consecutive title defenses with a win - second to the mark of 25 held by Joe Louis - said he was “allergic” to comparisons with other greats.
“How long I've been champion, how many title defenses I've made ... I don't want to compare myself with any of the great heavyweights,” Klitschko, the 1996 Olympic champion, said.
“I'm still looking up to those guys. They are still icons to me.”
Should Klitschko conquer Jennings, other up-and-comers await including Britain's Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, who holds the WBC belt, the only one to elude the Ukrainian.
“I see the change of the generations is slowly coming, because I had all of those guys in my training camp coming up,” Klitschko said.
“They are very competitive, very young, very ambitious, very strong fighters that definitely are going to bring a lot of excitement in the ring.” – Reuters