By Ian Aldous: On October 24th, Tyson Fury (24-0) will travel to Germany to challenge Wladimir ‘Dr Steelhammer’ Klitschko (64-3) for his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles at the Esprit arena in Dusseldorf. The best of British will endeavor to become the new heir to the Klitschko-dominated heavyweight throne.
The fight headlines a six-hour Sky Sports Box Office broadcast which will include Kell Brook’s defence of his world welterweight title. Today, I was at the London leg of the press tour for a hugely entertaining press conference.
Ten minutes after the scheduled start of the conference, every position at the top table was occupied apart from one – Tyson Fury’s. So it was then somewhat of a shock when suddenly the theme song for ‘Batman’ played and Tyson appeared in full Batman costume running around the room before taking his seat. Wladimir himself applauded and Sky’s Adam Smith rightly said “There’s very few like him.” and few would disagree. Mick Hennessy of Hennessy Sports declared that “We’re here to make history.” He even went so far as to suggest that if Tyson wins, he may celebrate in the ring with a song, it wouldn’t be the first time! Trainers Johnathon Banks and Peter Fury spoke very respectfully towards their opposing camps.
The entertainment continued when Batman’s nemesis ‘The Joker’ appeared to confront Batman and a scuffle ensued before Tyson escorted him away. The sizeable support in attendance for Fury roared their approval. A few minutes later, a suited and booted Tyson Fury appeared and apologised for arriving late! Tyson really turned up the heat on Klitschko as he went into a tirade of aggressiveness and humour. He claimed Wladimir has only ever beaten peasants and not a “Gypsy king” like him. He added that Wladimir must be a “schoolteacher or servant but definitely not a fighter.”
Klitschko then said his piece and infuriated Fury by calling him a clown. He said he could “give you a good job as a clown” for the world famous Cirque De Soleil. It seems as though he’s given himself one of the toughest training camps he’s ever had when he spoke of “over 200 rounds of sparring” which he has never done in preparation for any fight before. He told Tyson that he’d give him the therapy he needs and that on October 24th “Tyson Fury is gonna be saved.” Fury responded by referring to his height advantage and how Wladimir “can’t jab and grab me.” He then re-iterated his tough background and fighting lifestyle by saying that if he is destined to lose that “I want sparking out” and “not a shit decision.”
The first press conference in Germany saw Fury up to his usual antics. First of all he introduced himself to the assembled media as “Der sexymeister from Great Britain!” Then whilst seeming incredibly comfortable with his surroundings, he proceeded to throw insult after insult at ‘Dr Steelhammer’. “You have about as much charisma as my underpants” he barbed. He remarked about the first time he’d met Klitschko at a training camp in Austria five years ago “I went away from that training camp with pure confidence. You’re nothing, remember that. You are nothing and you are getting knocked out.”
Family photo,😁😁😁😁😂😂😂😅 pic.twitter.com/r28QUQX8tU
— Gypsy King (@Tyson_Fury) September 23, 2015
As far as Tyson and his training camp goes, his Uncle Peter Fury has brought in fighters from America and mainland Europe all around the 6’7″ region. Many of these men apparently come with undefeated records of their own and thus have something to prove against the man who’s one fight away from world heavyweight glory. Interestingly but not for the first time, Glory world kickboxing champion, Rico Verhoeven has been working with Fury in camp. Rico has himself admitted that a few years ago, Tyson closed both of his eyes “inside the first four rounds.” He was also impressed with how Fury switched to southpaw and continued the pounding. Rico continued his glowing praise by saying “If you stand in front of this guy, he’ll knock your f****** head off. He’s so gifted it’s crazy.”
Wladimir Klitschko will go into fight night on the back of an eleven-year undefeated run, over four years longer than Fury’s entire pro career. One aspect of the fight that experts and fans have been looking at is the fact that he’ll be the shorter man, something he hasn’t had to deal with very often. The last time that was the case was in 2012 when he soundly outpointed the undefeated, Mariusz Wach. Wach was one of no less than twelve undefeated men that Klitschko has taken their ‘0’ from, will it be unlucky thirteen for Tyson Fury? His trainer, Johnathon Banks will look to exploit how Steve Cunningham spectacularly dropped Fury in the second round of their bout two and a half years ago. Although Fury went on to stop Cunningham and win the fight impressively – it was shocking how the cruiserweight with a less than 50% knockout ratio could put him on the canvas.
My hope will be that the winner of Klitschko and Fury will go on to battle whomever is WBC heavyweight champion. Deontay Wilder defends that belt this Saturday night against the unheralded Frenchman, Johann Duhaupas on NBC in a primetime television slot. What an occasion it could be in early 2016 to once again see the entire heavyweight division unified with an undisputed king.
Fury has continued to mock David Haye in the build-up to this fight, so another option, should he win, would be to see a returning Haye face Fury in what would be their third scheduled fight. Also, 2012 Olympic champion and current Commonwealth champion, Anthony Joshua continues to blitz everything in front of him. Should he claim the vacant British title against Dillian Whyte in December – he’d be within touching distance of a world title shot.
Whatever happens between now and the night of October 24th between Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury – I’m sure it will be entertaining for us all to absorb.
Watch Klitschko Vs. Fury live on Sky Sports Box Office, October 24th
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