Ten years ago today, Tyson Fury shocked the boxing world: with bizarre tactics and incredible stamina, he dethroned Klitschko and ended an era in heavyweight boxing.
Badly bruised, with a swollen face and bloodshot eyes, the dethroned boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko appeared at the press conference in the bowels of Düsseldorf’s soccer stadium on the night of his defeat on November 28, 2015, ten years ago today.
He looked exhausted and disappointed after his surprisingly clear points defeat to Britain’s Tyson Fury, which had cost him the WBA, WBO, and IBF titles – but above all, he looked perplexed.
Fury “shocks the world”
“Tyson Fury defeats Wladimir Klitschko: Brit shocks the world,” headlined The Independent. The BBC also analyzed: “Fury shocks the boxing world. He was simply the better fighter in a fierce, sometimes chaotic battle.”
And the Süddeutsche Zeitung summed it up: “Klitschko wanted a challenge, Klitschko got one. He bled heavily, seemed completely at a loss—and deservedly lost.”
How could this have happened to him? To him, the champion who had been undefeated for over eleven and a half years, the undisputed king of international heavyweight boxing. Klitschko himself didn’t know.
Wladimir Klitschko: His instincts deceived him
“I actually felt well prepared,” said the then 39-year-old, attempting to explain what had happened to him in the ring just under two hours earlier. “In the first half of the fight, I still felt quite confident,” he said, but then added: “When the fight was over, I immediately had the feeling that I hadn’t made it this time.”
It was a feeling that Klitschko admitted was “quite unusual” for him. After all, since his last defeat against American Lamon Brewster in April 2004, he had only faced a handful of opponents.
Fury relied on more than just words
But against Fury, everything was different from the start. Rarely before had a challenger taken Klitschko’s trash talk to such extremes as the Brit. Whether with doomsday theories, a show interlude as Batman, a rewritten Bette Midler song, or, last but not least, a protest against the allegedly too soft ring floor: Fury tried to confuse the defending champion wherever he could. And he succeeded.
But he relied on more than just words: according to the Daily Mail, he bet £200,000 on himself before the fight – a bet that doubled.
Rarely has the technically and tactically gifted Klitschko been as uninspired as he was against Fury. From the first bell, the 6-foot-6 man tried to find his way into the fight against the giant from the island, who was another eight centimeters taller. But he didn’t make it.
Vitali Klitschko sharply criticized his brother
“He wasn’t in good shape, he didn’t have good technique, overall there was little to see from him,” criticized Vladimir’s older brother Vitali.
Instead, Fury set the tone – and did so in an almost provocatively casual manner.
As previously announced, the Brit was out to “cause chaos” and irritate his rival from the start. The “Gypsy King” danced around. He constantly switched between left and right stances. He boxed almost continuously without any real defense. He provoked. He showed Klitschko up.
Massive respect to everyone who supported me on TV & come out to Düsseldorf to be hear live, much love I’m blessed pic.twitter.com/1hHwLAB1t7
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) November 29, 2015
“He may have hit me more often, but I dominated the fight,” Fury analyzed afterwards. “I didn’t really get into the distance,” admitted Klitschko, whose otherwise feared right hand was almost completely ineffective this time. But it wasn’t just his opponent’s ten-centimeter longer reach that caused “Dr. Steelhammer” problems.
Fury surprisingly persistent – but final spurt came too late
While the Ukrainian, who was possibly still somewhat handicapped by the calf injury he suffered during preparation, appeared unusually wooden and immobile, his rival surprised him with astonishingly good footwork and stamina.
“He was incredibly fast throughout all twelve rounds,” said Klitschko appreciatively. The approximately 45,000 spectators in Düsseldorf, some of whom were downright horrified, also had to acknowledge Fury’s superiority that evening. With each passing minute, the audience’s hope for a turnaround noticeably dwindled. Fury did not collapse, Klitschko did not turn up the heat.
At least in the twelfth and final round, the champion stepped up his offense a little, but by that point, the train had long since left the station. With chaos deliberately created both inside and outside the ring, Fury had dethroned the king and left him at a loss.
The rematch never happened
The defeated Klitschko was never able to redeem himself: a planned rematch finally fell through in October 2016 when Fury tested positive for cocaine and returned his titles.
“Fury – Klitschko 2” was never to be: The Brit, who suffers from bipolar disorder, did not step into the ring for almost three years after his big victory because he was unable to cope with the psychological consequences: he fell into alcohol, drugs, and suicidal thoughts, got completely out of shape, and weighed over 180 kilograms at one point – before making what was at the time an incredible comeback against Deontay Wilder in 2018.
Klitschko challenged world champion Anthony Joshua in 2017 instead and lost his last big fight by technical knockout in the 11th round – after having previously put in a far better and more dignified performance than against Fury. Three months later, he ended his career.