Fight Club: Fury deserves huge respect for toppling king Klitschko

Andy Lewis 04:55 30/11/2015
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  • Inflicting pain: Fury.

    Tyson Fury may never be able to stop himself from playing the fool – but in breaking Wladimir Klitschko’s iron grip on heavyweight boxing he has more than earned the right to be taken very seriously.

    Klitschko, the now former undisputed champion of the world, hadn’t lost in 11-and-a-half years, winning 22 fights in a row, but surrendered all of that, as well as the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts with a bafflingly impotent display in Dusseldorf on Saturday night.

    The gun-shy Ukrainian offered precious little as Fury edged round after round to claim a fully merited unanimous verdict – 115-112 twice and 116-111 – despite being deducted a point for rabbit punches.

    Fury and his uncle and trainer Peter Fury deserve immense credit. He fought to a plan and pulled off a massive upset with a clearly defined blueprint for victory.

    He’d dressed as Batman for a pre-fight press conference but in the ring he was the Riddler. His youth and mobility were absolutely key. Fury’s lateral movement, head movement and constant feinting bewildered Klitschko and took his weapons away from him.

    The 39-year-old (64-3, 53 KOs) couldn’t establish his jab, had nothing to work off of, and his big right hand – the scourge of so many other challengers – was non-existent.

    Klitschko landed 52 punches in the entire fight, a measly total that included a pitiful 18 power punches. Fury’s stats were hardly impressive in a poor spectacle, but he was decisively busier.

    The Brit (25-0, 18 KOs) landed 86 times, including 48 power punches, and celebrated his victory by serenading his wife in the ring with an off-key rendition of an Aerosmith song.

    “I’ve always known I would become world heavyweight champion. It’s my destiny,” he said once he’d stopped singing. “Ask any member of my family – we’ve always known. I’ve always been confident and I showed why in this fight. I think he knew too.

    “I’m grateful to him for giving me this chance and if I can be half the champion he is, I’ll be a happy man. I’m a big, young, fast heavyweight and he landed some hard punches. But it wasn’t his night. It was my night.”

    If it’s not the end of an era it is certainly the beginning of the end as we await news of a potential rematch, something Fury is contractually obliged to offer. But purely on this evidence, Klitschko will soon join his elder sibling Vitali in retirement. Perhaps most telling was his inability to let his hands go when he needed to, instead sliding to defeat, accepting his grim fate.

    “A defeat is a learning process,” said Klitschko. “It’s too early to say anything now. It needs to be digested properly. I got beaten and I lost the battle but I did not lose the fighter. The fighter is still inside me. He always has been.

    “I congratulate Tyson. He won the fight. All I can say is ‘to be continued’.”

    Fury is more than happy to get back into the ring with the man he defeated. “I’m a fighter so I will take on all challengers,” he said. “Whatever happens next is a blessing. The interest in the next fight will be huge.”

    A rematch might indeed sell but it won’t be because of the quality their first meeting. Nothing can be taken away from Fury who achieved what so many others had failed to do, but the paucity of action served as a reminder of how far what was once the sport’s marquee division has fallen.

    This was supposedly the world’s two best heavyweights and it was awful. Klitschko was especially bad and defeat armed his critics with more ammunition than they will ever need. Was this an older shopworn version of Wladimir clearly on the way out, or has he been this way for a while and just hadn’t been properly tested? Probably a bit of both.

    But with all those belts having a new owner, what happens next will be fascinating. Deontay Wilder, a returning David Haye and an emerging Anthony Joshua are just three among many who would love the chance to take them off Fury.

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