Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko: Head-to-Toe Breakdown of Both Fighters
If you just can't get enough of two giant men flailing about, sometimes at each other, for 12 rounds of some of the most abysmal heavyweight championship action in history, don't worry. Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko will tussle again in a rematch on July 9 in Manchester, England.
No, it’s not a great matchup of styles. Or at least it wasn’t last time. But yes, this fight is important, so here’s a head-to-toe breakdown as we head toward fight night.
Fight Info
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Main Event: Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko; 12-round heavyweight championship bout for Fury’s lineal championship along with the WBA and WBO titles
Where: Manchester, England
When: July 9, 2016
TV: To be announced
Tale of the Tape
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Fury Klitschko
Record 25-0, 18 KOs 64-4, 53 KOs
Height 6’9” 6’6”
Weight 247 245
Reach 85” 81”
Stance Orthdox Orthodox
Rounds 146 358
What You Need to Know
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Look, the first fight was bad, but the result sent shock waves through the entire sports world, and the rematch is important. Fury, age 27, will hope to recapture the magic he used in November 2015 to upset long-reigning champion Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Klitschko, age 40, will have his work cut out for him. Not only was his 21-fight win streak halted last time out, one stretching all the way back to 2004, but he looked terrible in the fight.
Was it just an off night? Has his body declined to the point of looking average? Or was Fury just too big, too crafty and too full of energy for any version of Klitschko ever?
The rematch can’t be any worse than the first fight, and it will be up to Klitschko to make things entertaining the second time around. Fury was able to keep Klitschko at the end of his long arms, and his herky-jerky movements kept Klitschko gun-shy for most of the night.
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Boxing Ability
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Fury is a competent boxer. He’s learned over the last few years to keep fighters away from the inside by peppering them with his jab. His footwork is decent, but not spectacular, partially because he’s slow-footed.
He knows how to use his size, though, something that gives him an advantage over just about anyone else on the planet, including the smaller Klitschko, who is not used to punching up instead of down.
Klitschko struggles when he’s not the larger man. But where he has typically excelled in such cases was by using athleticism to land heavy, hard punches with blazing speed. He never opened up against Fury, though, so one has to wonder if things will be different the second time around.
Fury outboxed Klitschko in the first fight, and while Klitschko is great at using his size against smaller opponents, he’s out of his comfort zone when he’s forced into a different kind of fight.
Advantage: Fury
Power
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Fury is a giant. To put it plainly, anyone that big and strong punches hard enough to knock people out. With a respectable knockout percentage of 72, Fury is a little above average as far as heavyweights go. He might lack the dynamism of his opponent’s one-punch power, but his punches thud enough to accumulate damage over time for stoppages.
Klitschko is one of the best punchers in heavyweight history. His KO percentage is 78, and when Klitschko detonates his straight right, people fall down. His left hook might even be a more sensational stopper, but he throws it too rarely in comparison to the jab-cross combo he prefers. Both fighters are a bit chinny, but the prevailing sentiment before the last fight was Klitschko’s power would spell early doom for Fury. That never happened.
Advantage: Klitschko
Defense
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Neither man is a master defender, but both have effective strategies that rely on their size and strength. They hold. They lean on their opponents. They stick their arms straight out to keep their opponents away from them.
Before going into the first fight, one would probably argue Klitschko was better, at least over the last 12 years, of keeping out of harm’s way. But the November fight was a different story. Fury excelled at keeping Klitschko confused and passive, and it more than anything led to the big win.
Advantage: Fury
Game Plan
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Fury will want a carbon copy of his last performance. He will try to keep the fight at a distance and throw just enough punches to make Klitschko wary and docile. Fury needs to keep on his toes and move the fight around the ring, and when opportunities arise, he should throw knockout punches in hopes of stunning or stopping Klitschko.
Klitschko, on the other hand, will want to avoid any strategy he used last time out. He cannot afford to let seconds tick by while he stands there and gets hit more than he even comes close to answering. Instead, Klitschko, if he hopes to recapture the heavyweight crown, will need to be the aggressor. His superior athleticism and power are the keys to the victory, so he should shuck his usual temperament and make things a brawl.
Advantage: Fury
Early Prediction
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Here's a prediction: The pre-fight show will probably be better than the fight. That's almost always the case with a Klitschko bout, in part because he puts so much thought and money into spectacular and extravagant entrances. But since the first fight was such a dud, it's almost a sure thing in this one.
Anyway, for whatever reason—age, style, skill—Fury was just plain better than Klitschko last year. Some folks think Klitschko has appeared on the decline for a while now. I think he hit a wall last year, and that it will be difficult for him to compete at the elite level ever again. When a fighter comes to the end, he seems unsure of himself. He hesitates instead of throwing punches. That’s the kind of fighter I’ve seen the last two times Klitschko has fought, and while he will always have a puncher’s chance, it’s hard for me to pick against Fury in the rematch.
Prediction: Fury via unanimous decision
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