Fury is following through with a clause in the contract of their original clash that he would not face anyone before giving Klitschko another shot – should he pull off what was a shock victory at the time. Klitschko was a big favourite in November and could have been guilty of taking his eye off the ball on the back of a long reign at the top dominating every challenger that was thrown at him.
As fights with Anthony Joshua and David Haye potentially cloud the mind of Fury, Klitschko has quietly been going about his training.
Many now view the former divisional king as washed up due to the tactics employed by Fury in Dusseldorf as the Briton took away his clutch of belts using an evasive style. The big question is, ‘How could the Ukrainian have lost some much of his ability in twelve months?’ – After all, Klitschko did take care of Kubrat Pulev so brutally just a year earlier in November 2014.
The size of Fury comes into play, although Klitschko has fought men bigger than him before and had no problems. Wear and tear as an excuse is doubtful as the Ukrainian takes care of himself outside of the ring and hasn’t been involved in a tear-up for over a decade.
So is Fury just Klitschko’s bogeyman? – Quite possibly, but Klitschko was back in the gym just weeks after the defeat and has tunnel vision regarding winning back his belts. A commendable sight from someone who is thought to be just one fight away from retirement.
As Klitschko is so intent on reversing his loss, and Fury would rather not even go through with the fight, the door is open for ‘Dr. Steelhammer’ to head to UK, pull off a shock of his own and emerge victorious for the first time since 2000.
On that occasion, Klitschko brutalized Monte Barrett in seven rounds on his way to claiming a WBO title shot against Chris Byrd, although correcting his loss to Fury will certainly prove a bigger mountain to climb for the wounded and fallen champion.
