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Wladimir Klitschko vs Tyson Fury: Challenger has finally found a way to ruffle the champion

Ukraine’s world champion is aiming to silence Tyson Fury as he approaches 40

Steve Bunce
Dusseldorf
Friday 27 November 2015 20:22 GMT
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Wladimir Klitschko (left) extends his hand to Tyson Fury during the weigh-in in Germany
Wladimir Klitschko (left) extends his hand to Tyson Fury during the weigh-in in Germany

If Tyson Fury had a giant book of boxing secrets there would be far too many examples of how not to fight Wladimir Klitschko and not one single example of how to beat him.

Heavyweight giants are not undone by words or grand strategies, they are not humiliated by tactics devised and concocted behind closed doors and it is seldom a shock when they are finally crushed. No, heavyweight giants like Klitschko, a man a few months shy of 40, lose only when it is time for them to move on.

Klitschko, you see, is an exceptional champion, a man at ease in the ring, a total control freak and a fighter that has lost just a handful of rounds in his entire career of 67 fights. It means that when the first bell sounds here in Düsseldorf on Saturday night and more than 50,000 people refuse to sit, there is a chance that, for one of the two fighters, the harsh reality of their sudden situation will become the real enemy. Is it time for Big Wlad to move on or has Fury talked himself into a fighting hell? Ding-ding, as they say.

Fury has certainly done his bit to raise the profile of the fight with a relentless series of often bad-taste assaults on a variety of targets, and all delivered under a dubious cover, the odd insistence that he is a straight-talking man. Fury is honest. He has highlighted his concerns before about how he feels at his loneliest moments when he retreats to his darkest corners. However, for this fight, he has simply said too much during a build-up that really only required the two signatures on the contract.

Klitschko has developed boxing’s finest deaf ear, having had to tune out David Haye’s insults, the bold claims of Dereck Chisora during their two postponed fights and an endless list of forgettable Americans who came, boasted and folded. But Fury is clearly proving an enigma for the deep-thinking champion and during their various skirmishes so far it is clear that Klitschko is puzzled. Trust me, that is an odd indicator.

At Friday’s weigh-in it was Klitschko’s turn suddenly to act like the confident champion. His swagger was back and, as they stood nose to nose, his three-inch height deficit vanished behind an endless smile. Fury had arrived lost inside a hefty swarm of friends, family and minders, and as they found their allocated seats the boxer was alone on the stage without a microphone or a cheering crowd for company. He needs a crowd to perform and, isolated on the stage, he seemed a little anxious.

The smooth voice of boxing, Michael Buffer, appeared shortly before Klitschko’s arrival and the two kings of the ring exchanged fist pumps, an awkward act that further emphasised the distance between Fury’s ambitions and the glorious land that Klitschko has ruled for a decade. This is Big Wlad’s turf, his brutal domain, and Fury, for the first time in his fighting life and certainly for the first time in Germany, looked bothered – not scared, just awaAre.

A streamlined Tyson Fury on the scales at the weigh in on Friday

“I could see fear in his eyes,” claimed Fury after the peaceful weigh-in, which was behind closed doors with no fans. Then 30 seconds later he said that he had seen nothing in Klitschko’s eyes. I was not close enough to see into Klitschko’s eyes, but I got a good look from two feet at Fury’s eyes and the fun sparkle that has been there since this fight was announced has certainly dimmed. That is not a bad thing.

His father John and uncle Peter, who will both be in the corner tonight, were delighted with the slight, serious twist in the attitude of the fighter they had prepared. “There is nothing else that we could have done in camp,” said John, who fought as Gypsy John on the harshest of boxing circuits when he was a professional. “My brother Peter has done a magnificent job and now my son, who I still think of as a six-year-old, is ready.”

John, Peter and Tyson are fighting men, not foolish men, and anybody close to them knows just how highly they rate Klitschko. On Friday, as the gathered media, invited guests and officials faded away, John remained, still looking at the stage and remembering how hard his life – both inside the ring and outside the ropes – had been. “I feel like I’ve lived a hundred lives – this is just boxing. I want them both to leave the ring healthy,” he added.

There remains one giant factor in the fight that no amount of preparation by Fury and his team can predict or prepare for, and that is Klitschko’s physical condition, which is directly linked to the champion’s willingness to take risks.

He has had niggling problems. This fight was postponed back in October and, with Klitschko at 39, after 30 years in the system, there will inevitably be physical flaws. His brother, Vitali, took a four-year break, returned and then had to limp away undefeated as champion after 10 more fights. It is hard being that good, that big, that old and staying at the top for that long.

“I have asked for Tyson to tell me if he has any injuries,” said Klitschko, who was a pound lighter at 17st 7lb. “I don’t want him to do a David Haye and start blaming old injuries when he loses.” It was Klitschko back to his jocular best, testing Fury with gentle slights and prodding back after two months of verbal abuse. Fury was not in the mood for biting and left in another smothered cluster of his people for a quiet night at his hotel with his family.

So, once the first bell sounds and the men are left alone to fight, there will be a moment or two before the punches start to flow and land. Klitschko has had to fight relatively hard in two of his last four fights and, arguably, in just one other fight since his last loss, which was in 2004. Fury, meanwhile, has never had to fight hard when he has prepared properly, and that includes the times he has been dropped and wobbled.

“I have made a bloody fool of myself in there,” he said when reflecting on the bad nights that could so easily have diverted his career down a dead-end route. Fury has also boxed to order, occasionally as a southpaw, which I expect tonight, and in his last two fights imitated a lot of Klitschko’s tricks.

Klitschko was put under tremendous pressure and shaken by the unbeaten Kubrat Pulev last November before a fifth-round stoppage. In 2013 Russia’s unbeaten Alexander Povetkin also made Klitschko fight in an ugly brawl in Moscow, where the Ukrainian champion was paid a hefty $17.5m.

The truth is that most of the other 16 world title defences in this reign have been simple, routine and mostly repetitive because of Klitschko’s talent. The other truth is that Pulev’s backers and the deep-pocketed Russians who supported Povetkin both thought that Klitschko was ready to go – Fury’s people believe the same.

“I will know when it is time,” said Klitschko. “I have gone for 10 years from fight to fight. It is experience, dedication and the love of the game that keeps me winning. I will know.” He is sure the time is not now and Fury is equally convinced that the time is right. We will all know after about 60 seconds on Saturday night and I think the big lad, the champion, the man who has annoyed so many people with his safety-first approach, has one more big night in him. He is, we must never forget, a true fighting man.

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