Klitschko-Fury 2 announcement expected soon

By Boxing News - 03/25/2016 - Comments

fury098By Scott Gilfoid: Peter Fury, the trainer for IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) expects his fight with former world champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) to be finalized by April for a rematch that will take place in July in the UK. Peter says Wladimir doesn’t mind coming to the UK to fight the 6’9” Fury in the rematch.

If the Klitschko-Fury 2 fight is going to take place in the UK, then it must mean that Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessey is confident of them being able to sell out a large stadium. This is a risky proposition if Wladimir agrees to this because Fury doesn’t have the track record to be selling out stadiums in the UK.

The worst thing that could happen is if they book Wembley stadium and then only 15,000 fans show up for the 80,000-seat stadium. Considering that Wladimir is capable of filling 50,000 seat stadiums in Germany, they would be giving up a ton of money by fighting in the UK. If I were Wladimir, I wouldn’t do it unless I had a full guarantee that the fight would sellout in the UK. Short of that, I wouldn’t do it.

“July is looking favorite now and hopefully it will be in the UK,” said Peter Fury to Behind the Gloves. “It all looks to be heading in the right direction. Mick Hennessy (Fury’s promoter) is working with Team Klitschko around the clock. The Klitschkos are happy to come to England provided it makes sense obviously so that is what they are working on and I fully expect an announcement in April. We are not far off announcing it.”

Fury beat a very timid Wladimir by a 12 round decision last November in Dusseldorf, Germany. It was one of the most winnable fights that you’ll ever see for Wladimir, but he just would not throw punches. This is a fight that Wladimir would have likely won with his eyes completely closed in his first year as a pro in 1996 if that version of Wladimir was in the ring with Fury instead of the old and timid 39-year-old version. But it just looked like Wladimir was too old, too set his ways in being cautious, and just plane too timid to get the job done. Whether Wladimir can be more courageous in the rematch remains to be seen.

If Wladimir fights with the aggression that we saw from him earlier in his career, then Fury is toast in July. There’s no way Fury can beat an aggressive Wladimir, because he doesn’t have the chin to take Wladimir’s big power shots. Fury also doesn’t have the punching power to compete in that fight and worry Wladimir. It all depends on how Wladimir fights. He needs a shot of courage in the worst way.

The winner of the Klitschko-Fury 2 contest could either fight WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder after he takes care of business on May 21 against Alexander Povetkin, or the winner of the April 9 fight between Anthony Joshua and Charles Martin. David Haye doesn’t figure to be in play for the winner of those fights. He’s going to have to wait in the wings and slowly build up his name if he wants a big fight.

I think you have to favor Wladimir to beat Fury in the rematch because he has a bigger upside of improvement than Fury. Wladimir has the punching power and the hand speed to win. All he needs to do is to make sure he throws punches, and he’s got the fight in the bag. With Fury, he’s just a weak, awkward slapper type of fighter, who doesn’t have the tools in his arsenal to come out and get the better of Wladimir.

Fury is arguably a textbook version of a paper champion. I see Fury as an accidental champion, or a one-hit wonder. The only reason why Fury is a world champion right now is because Wladimir was too timid to throw punches the last time they fought. Whether that was due to age or him just being afraid of getting hit is unknown. I think it’s a combination of both. However, I think Wladimir will conquer his fear in the rematch and throw enough punches to get the win.



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