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How Tyson Fury changed the heavyweight division forever against Wladimir Klitschko
Right now boxing’s heavyweight division is in one of its most exciting periods, crammed with must-watch names. From Oleksandr Usyk to Moses Itauma, a generation of boxing fans are reaping the rewards of what the sport’s most popular weight division has to offer.
However, none of this may have happened if it were not for the world heavyweight title fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury had not taken place.
Ten years ago in Düsseldorf, Fury made the trip to Germany to face the man who, along with his brother Vitali, had made heavyweight boxing stagnant. Many had tried and failed to topple Wladimir’s stranglehold.
Fury had other ideas, and his unanimous decision victory against Klitschko that fateful night - November 28, 2015 - at the ESPRIT Arena rocked the heavyweight division and gave it a much-needed shot in the arm after becoming an afterthought.
Fury’s Batman attempts to unsettle Klitschko
The build-up to Klitschko versus Fury kicked off with a bang with one of the sport's most famous press conference, which lives in the memory to this day.
As the very serious Klitschko awaited the arrival of his opponent with his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight belts on display two months before the original October 24 date, Fury burst in dressed up as Batman, ran around the room, circling a bemused press core, then tackling someone posing as the Joker.
Fury then laid it on the Ukrainian.
“That’s how you will be looking when you face me on October 24. He is a fool, just like you are!” Fury said before changing into one of his flashy suits.
While antics such as this would trigger some fighters, Klitschko saw the funny side of it.
“It was the most entertaining press conference I’ve had in 25 years of boxing,” he said after.
“How can that [press conference antics] affect me? I'm preparing for one of the toughest battles of my career. I think he's bipolar, a psychopath. I can make him a fitter person, and the treatment is the fight. It will be reality rehab in how to behave himself.”
Klitschko may not have given much away, but with comments such as the above, clearly Fury’s character was something which, if it wasn’t already, was playing on his mind.
Build-up chaos showed Fury would not be intimiated by Klitschko
A Klitschko calf injury saw the fight date re-arranged from October 24 to November 28, and once fight week arrived, the antics began.
One reason for Klitschko’s dominance at heavyweight was the aura he had produced. He had the ability to make his opponents feel small and freeze in the ring. The performances may not be memorable, but they were comfortable and at times looked easy.
Outside of the ring, a fighter such as Klitschko and his team had huge influence on the conditions, such as the ring canvas and glove size, to skew in his favour. Fury, however, was not going to let that happen.
After a row over the gloves being used Fury threatened to pull out on the day of the fight after he claimed that the ring canvas was “too soft”. This resulted in five inches of foam being removed and gave a rare insight into Klitschko’s plan to stifle Fury’s movement.
This alteration was an early win for Fury and no doubt unsettled Klitschko, whose trump cards were quickly being taken away from him before the opening bell.
Fury’s win over Klitschko changed the entire heavyweight division
On the night, Fury was too good for Klitschko. His incredible footwork and feints saw him frustrate the defending champion, who struggled to throw any meaningful shots.
Whenever the rounds were close, Fury would swing them in his favour due to being the more active fighter and in the latter rounds, the Brit began to tee off.
Two left hooks in round 11 were the highlight en-route to Fury being declared the winner on all three scorecards.
Now a unified champion, Fury’s success had opened the door for other heavyweight stars to follow.
While Fury would take a prolonged absence due to issues outside of the ring, fellow British heavyweight Anthony Joshua would become a world champion five months later, beating Charles Martin for the IBF belt.
AJ would then beat and retire Klitschko in an epic Wembley Stadium encounter, which launched Joshua to superstardom.
Fury eventually returned three years later and be part of a thrilling trilogy with WBC champion Deontay Wilder before failing to beat Usyk for undisputed honours last year.
The heavyweight division has a lot to thank Fury for.
If he did not beat Klitschko on that winter night in Germany, boxing’s most popular weight class may have stayed in a state of purgatory with ‘Dr Steelhammer’ able to cherry-pick opponents and only facing the top-level contenders when a mandatory was called.
Instead, Fury’s win showed his rivals that someone without the surname Klitschko could be a heavyweight champion. If Klitschko won in Düsseldorf, who is to say that the likes of Joshua and Usyk would be world champions?
Taking the belts away from the Ukrainian’s grasp was needed in order for the heavyweight division to get moving again and avoid it from becoming an issue all too common in boxing when one champion drains the life out of a weight class.
For Fury, it will not just be his performance against Klitschko which will be remembered; it will also be the subsequent shockwaves into a revived heavyweight division which needed a fighter to open the doors to the promised land and boxing’s most coveted prize.
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