THE Gypsy King was crowned on a throne of blood as Tyson Fury blasted his way
to one of boxing’s biggest ever upsets.
Traveller Fury smashed Wladimir Klitschko at the Esprit Arena to end the
Ukrainian’s dominance of the heavyweight division and send him crashing to
his first defeat in 11 years.
The Brit, 27, bludgeoned his way to a unanimous points win, but this was more
than just a victory for Fury.
It was a clear signal that — at long last — there is a changing of the guard
among the world’s heavyweights.
It was Klitschko’s first world title defeat in 19 as Fury opened up cuts
around both of his eyes. It came despite being deducted a point in the 11th
round for continually hitting Klitschko to the back of the head.
Dusseldorf was in uproar at the final bell with Fury’s corner sure their man
had slugged his way to the WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF world titles. And they were
right.
History tells us boxing is a young man’s game and so it proved as Klitschko’s
near 40 years appeared to catch up with him.
Now it’s the turn of other young guns like Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker,
as well as Fury, who broke down in tears at the verdict.
The acrimony that started five months ago had rumbled on to within hours of
the fight with yet more behind-the-scenes bust-ups.
The style of gloves caused the biggest ruck, with Fury adamant he would not
fight unless they were changed.
And early on Saturday morning, Fury went to the fight venue for a light work
out and immediately told Team Klitschko he would not box because of so much
padding under the canvas.
Three layers of two-inch foam made the fight surface as spongey as a bed
mattress.
Germany’s boxing commissioner Thomas Putz was called in to settle the latest
war of words. And much to the annoyance of the Klitschko camp, Putz ruled
one layer of foam must come out before the bout could go ahead as planned.
Amazingly, the acrimony did not end there. It continued right up to fight time
with a bust-up that forced Klitschko to re-wrap his hands as no one from
Fury’s camp was present when he did it the first time.
At the first bell Fury sprinted to the centre of the ring in a bid to catch
Klitschko off guard and showed plenty of ambition as he landed on the
Ukrainian’s head. But his punches lacked power.
Fury landed a thumping left in the second as the champion struggled to get
going, while his rival teased him with a constant verbal battering.
In a bid to unsettle Klitschko even more, Fury switched to a southpaw stance
in the third and it worked as he hardly took a punch.
But when Fury hit Klitschko on the back of the head, referee Tony Weeks gave
him a warning.
Fury was only throwing single shots in the fourth, abandoning his style of
firing combinations. Klitschko found it easy to fend off.
In the fifth Fury received more encouragement when he opened up a cut on
Klitschko’s left cheek, just below his eye. The Ukrainian connected with two
solid rights but it was not enough to take the round.
Klitschko tried to slow the pace in the sixth by holding Fury, but he still
shipped some solid hits.
Stamina appeared to be a problem for Klitschko in the seventh and Fury annoyed
the crowd when he taunted his rival with his hands behind his back.
Twice in the eighth Fury landed decent shots and round nine had the crowd on
their feet as Fury just missed Klitschko’s chin with a huge uppercut but was
then hit by a ferocious right hand that he somehow shook off.
A left hook from Fury then had Klitschko on the retreat.
Fury’s hopes of a clear win took a knock in the 11th round with the point
deduction.
And the 12th was a barnstomer with both fighters looking to land a knockout.
Klitschko was absolutely desperate as he lunged forward, as if knowing the
fate that awaited him at the hands of the judges.
