All indications seem to point to a literally huge matchup between unified heavyweight champion of the world Wladimir Klitschko (64-23, 53 KOs) and mandatory challenger Tyson Fury (24-0, 18 KOs). The size of the two fighters alone will draw attention for even the casual fans. Klitschko stands at 6′ 6″ and Fury at 6′ 9″. There is already talk of the fight landing in Fury’s native United Kingdom. This would be nothing new for Klitschko who has had no problem at all defending his titles on the road. Klitschko in fact just did so in his last fight defending against American Bryant Jennings last month in New York at the famed Madison Square Garden. Klitschko won a hard earned and competitive unanimous decision. The fact that Jennings was able to compete with Klitschko had some wondering if he is slowing down at the age of 39. Jennings entered the fight a huge underdog with nowhere near the experience of Klitschko on the amateur or professional level. Jennings does deserve a lot of credit as he had a good defensive game plan and when hit flush by Klitschko he took it and fired back in kind.
Klitschko seems to really want to prove a point that he has not lost a step. It was quickly forgotten what he had done in his fight prior to his one with Jennings. He faced mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev this past November. Pulev entered the fight considered to at the very least push Klitschko. This was not to be as Klitschko would dominate Pulev dispatching him in less than 5 rounds. The Jennings fight quickly erased memory of the Pulev fight as it was viewed live by a much larger U.S. audience. Klitschko knows that a clear victory over Fury will go a long way of silencing the critics. Beating Fury in the UK would make the feat even bigger. A win over Klitschko for Fury would elevate his career to the highest of levels. His rival and countryman David Haye was dominated by Klitschko. Fury at the moment is seen as the UK’s top heavyweight passing up the inactive Haye who is planning a comeback.
It’s a massive step up in class for Fury who has improved a lot both offensively and defensivley the last few years. However, he doesn’t have any wins over any significant names. Haye was going to be his first major name he would have faced but Haye pulled out of the fight due to injury. The timing is right for Fury. He is as ready as he is going to be for Klitschko. If Jennings showed anything its that a proper defense can throw Klitschko off of his game a bit. What Klitschko showed was that he can still win in a number of different ways. There is no disputing that he did beat Jennings albeit not in the convincing way he has most of his opponents of late. It now appears we will get to see who is the best of these two giants.
