In the leadup to their heavyweight title fight, Tyson Fury said that all old champions eventually had to make way for new champions, and for the past few months, he’s said he was going to rid the heavyweight division of Wladimir Klitschko. To be fair, many boxing observers had wondered when and if the 39-year-old Klitschko would ever begin to show his age.
That day came on Saturday when Fury did enough to keep Klitschko off-balance throughout the fight and forced him to be overly cautious. As a result, Fury won all three of Klitschko’s heavyweight belts and the lineal championship with a unanimous decision win vs. Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Two judges had Fury winning 115-112, and the other had it 116-111. Forbes scored the fight in favor of Fury 116-112.
Though Fury was only a 10/3 underdog, the Klitschko loss felt shocking because he had been so dominant in the heavyweight division for the past decade. Even more surprising: Klitschko did virtually nothing in the first six rounds or so. He was overly hesitant, and though Fury wasn’t exactly pounding his opponent, Fury’s confidence continued to grow. Klitschko could not hurt him. Klitschko could barely touch him.
“This is a dream come true,” said Fury. “We’ve worked so hard for this. I put everything into the gym for this. I can’t believe I got it.”
True to form, Fury was bizarre in his postfight interview, briefly weeping before commandeering the microphone and serenading his wife with Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”
Fury (25-0) wasn’t a huge underdog, but few observers seemed to believe that Klitschko would have too much trouble with his opponent. Sure, Fury has a big punch, and, at a listed 6-foot-9, he was three inches taller than Klitschko and also the tallest opponent of his career. But to counteract that, Klitschko (64-4) had feasted on fighters taller than 6-5 throughout his career, previously winning all seven of his fights and six by knockout.
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