Tyson Fury – Wladimir Klitschko II: Breaking It Down By the Numbers!

By Jeffrey “Italian Medallion” Cellini

Tyson Fury will defend THE RING, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles in a long-waited rematch against Wladimir Klitschko at the Manchester Arena on Oct. 29. Fighting in an unprecedented 28th heavyweight world title appearance, Klitschko failed to make his 19th successful title defense in his second reign as heavyweight king.

Undefeated Fury, 25-0 18 KO’s shocked the world last November when he dethroned long-reigning heavyweight champion Klitschko in one of boxing’s biggest upsets in recent years at the Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. In last year’s bout, Fury won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 116–111, 115–112 (twice) in one of the most uneventful heavyweight title fights in the history of the sport.

The 40-year-old Klitschko, 64-4, 54 KO’s is out for revenge after suffering his first defeat in over eleven years at the hands of his 28-year-old British counterpart. Klitschko, who is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, will rely on his experience as highly skilled technician to reclaim his throne. Also ,thought of as one of the hardest punching heavyweights of all-time, Klitschko will try to utilize his strong jab, straight right hand and left hook in this second encounter, something he did not do effectively a year ago.

Klitschko defeated Chris Byrd in 2000 to win the WBO heavyweight title. Klitschko’s first reign as champion ended in an upset knockout loss to Corrie Sanders in 2003.In 2006, Klitschko regained a portion of the world heavyweight championship after stopping Chris Byrd in a rematch to win the IBF and IBO titles. He won the WBO title for a second time by defeating then-unbeaten champion Sultan Ibragimov in 2008. Following his defeat of Ruslan Chagaev in 2009, Klitschko was awarded the Ring and lineal titles, and lastly he won the WBA title from David Haye in 2011. Klitschko will attempt to become the fourth heavyweight champion to win the title for the third time, joining Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield (4) and Lennox Lewis.

Tyson Fury will be making the first title defense of his championship. Fury also won the IBF title, but was subsequently stripped for being unable to grant a fight against his mandatory challenger, Vyacheslav Glazkov. Fury also held the British heavyweight title twice, as well as the European, Commonwealth, English, and Irish heavyweight titles. The new champion and his team are very confident heading into the rematch, and look forward to another victory.

Promoter Mick Hennessy, CEO of Hennessy Sports, said, “This is the rematch that the boxing world has been waiting to see and the anticipation is now at boiling point, so expect a highly charged and explosive fight when the best two heavyweights in the world collide. As Tyson’s promoter I have 100 percent confidence that he will retain his titles in front of his fans and make it another memorable night for British boxing to remember.”

At 6-foot-6, Wladimir Klitschko found himself battling a taller opponent in the 6-foot-9 Tyson Fury last November. Unable to utilize his best weapons against the Brit, Klitschko was totally baffled. Fury controlled the fight throughout with a well-devised game plan to steal the show and pull off Ring Magazine’s 2015’s Upset of the Year. Fury made himself difficult to be hit with his head and body movement, occasionally switching to the southpaw stance to baffle Klitschko. Furthermore, he was able to land a handful of punches when he got within range.

It is very hard to imagine that Klitschko will be able to reclaim his crown as heavyweight champion when he fights Fury next month in Manchester, England. The new reigning king will likely deploy a similar strategy that won the first fight. Klitschko was starting to show signs of slowing down when he struggled against Bryant Jennings, despite winning the fight by unanimous decision in April 2015. The prediction is that Tyson Fury once again demonstrates that youth conquers experience and wins rather comfortably again, most likely another lopsided 12-round decision.

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