Tyson Fury vs Wladimir Klitschko II: Hungry for revenge, Klitschko is more determined than ever to fell bitter foe

'It has been difficult getting up each day and not being champion. I have the old hunger back and feel more motivated than ever,' Klitschko said during Monday's press conference

Wladimir Klitschko (Getty)

Tyson Fury had a breakdown on the M40 yesterday but thankfully it was his battery and not his mind that kept him from the conference to announce his heavyweight title fight with Wladimir Klitschko.

The rematch will take place at the Manchester Arena on October 29th, a full 11 months since Fury silenced 50,000 people in Düsseldorf to beat Klitschko at the end of a bad-tempered week of insults, objections and threats. Fury was the underdog but put on a boxing masterclass to bewilder Klitschko, who had been champion for nine years, and take all of his belts.

A July rematch, at the Manchester venue, was postponed when Fury injured his ankle running in the Lake District and at that point their renewed hostility started to look increasingly doomed. Klitschko was threatening legal action over the summer if the fight was not announced and a fiery impasse was reached, which required some expert verbal dancing to resolve. It is fair to say that both camps contain men capable of mercurial whims, stubbornness and they are forever ready to rush to frustrating ultimatums. A peace was brokered, a fight agreed and all looked happy as the rivals filed in for yesterday's formal announcement.

However, as big Wlad sat down on Monday at the Landmark hotel in central London, having flown in from Germany on a private jet earlier in the day, he was informed that Fury had a problem with his car and would not be attending.

"He is a man of many talents: I know he can sing, the last time he was dressed as Batman at the conference and now he is The Invisible Man," said Klitschko. "I hope there is not a problem with his car on the 29th."

Klitschko is now 40. He first won the world heavyweight title in 2000, losing it in 2003, regaining it in 2006 and making 18 consecutive defences before the scrap with Fury. "It has been difficult getting up each day and not being champion. I have the old hunger back and feel more motivated than ever," claimed Klitschko. Reports from inside his camps this year suggest he is even meaner than ever in sparring sessions, and for the July fight there were several stories of fighters walking away from their duties and the cash they were being paid. Many years ago Fury was hired as a sparring partner by Klitschko but he was never used, just kept ticking over in the champion's Austrian retreat and studied by Manny Steward, the American trainer, who transformed Klitschko; Fury maintains that was when he got inside Klitschko's head.

"It has not been easy for Wladimir since the loss and I have never seen him with so much drive," added Tom Loeffler, part of K2, Klitschko's management and promotional company, and also the manager of Gennady Golovkin. "This fight will be special - Wladimir wants his revenge."


 Fury failed to show at the press conference 
 (Getty)

Fury had said before his motor mishap that he is sick and tired of sitting down and going over all the old ground with Klitschko. "He had his chance in the first fight when he was the champion and had all the advantages" Fury insisted. "What can he do differently? He can't change the way he fights and unfortunately for him I understand every bit about the way he fights. He can't beat me and he knows it - it is probably torture for him."

Peter Fury, the fighter's trainer and uncle, did show at the conference and admitted it would be a great relief when the first bell actually sounds. "It's been a long and difficult few months," claimed Fury. "At times it has seemed like Tyson has been hunted, condemned like a guilty man without a trial - my job now is to make him think differently and get him right for this fight. These are the best two heavyweights in the world and this is the real heavyweight championship. It's a 50-50 fight with so much at stake." Fury's dispute with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) will be resolved at a hearing after the fight.

There is still time for a few stunts from Fury, time also for Klitschko to lose his own cool and apologise before swearing and there is a lot of time for grim tales to be leaked in the days behind closed doors at the two retreats the men will use to prepare. Fury will be in Bolton, knee deep in meat and two vegs prepared by the local cafe, and Klitschko will lock the doors once again at his Alpine hideaway. They will sweat and painfully shape their bodies and no doubt keep an eye on the sanity switch inside their brains. Heavyweight boxing is a hefty businessman between the sport's top mental operators; last year in Dusseldorf Fury won the mind games, this year Wlad is acting like a new man.