One doesn’t hear it so often these days, but the heavyweight title is still the biggest prize in the world of sports. Boxing’s popularity, like the popularity of baseball and horse racing, may have waxed and waned over the years. But everyone from Boston to Borneo knows that Tyson Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko Saturday night to win the heavyweight crown.
Fury made history in Düsseldorf. It was a radical changing of the guard.
Fury and Klitschko are like night and day, but there was no differentiating night from day under the hot lights over the ring.
Tyson Fury brought it, whereas Wladimir Klitschko took it, and that’s all she wrote.
At the conclusion of the bout Klitschko said, “There will be a rematch. It is still early and I have to process things but there will definitely be a rematch.”
That may have sounded like wishful thinking at the time, but Klitschko knew what he was talking about. He had studied the contract, no less than the contractual option for a rematch, and he has decided, to the surprise of no one, to exercise that option.
That’s bad news for the likes of Deontay Wilder, David Haye, Anthony Joshua, Vyacheslav Glazkov, and every other heavyweight who has expressed interest in fighting the new champion.
They will have to wait their turn, because Fury going to fight Klitschko a second time.
“I was really frustrated after the fight,” the former champion said, “but after some short nights I now know that I want to show that I am much better than my performance on Saturday. I couldn’t show my full potential at any time. This is what I want to change in the rematch—and I will. Failure is not an option.”
Failure is never an option, but failure occurs, and Klitschko will have to be a different fighter than he was Saturday night, maybe even a different fighter than he has been for much of his career, to defeat Fury in the rematch.
But all systems are go.
Bernd Bönte, CEO Klitschko Management Group, said, “There will be a huge worldwide interest in this fight which already can be billed as the fight of the year in 2016. We received so many questions from fans and journalists after last Saturday. The new champion and his challenger will answer all of them inside the ring.”
That’s where these things should be decided, as they have always been, and they will always be.
Touch gloves…and may the best man win.
This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.
