Deontay Wilder a Happy Man as Tyson Fury Upsets Vladimir Klitschko

A message from a friend said it all when I told him Tyson Fury got a unanimous decision against former champion Vladimir Klitschko in Germany.  Whaaaaaa?  I didn’t see the fight until later and then I’d caught only the last six rounds.  Lucky me.  The fight seemed to be one of the ugliest I’ve ever seen and, while I always respect the combatants in this most difficult of sports,  Klitchscho  seems to have jumped the shark, gone way past his sell-by date, and lumbered and clinched his way around the ring as if he had MMA trainers in his corner. 

This is not to say that Tyson Fury looked brilliant, just that he showed up and punched occasionally. It is said that he had some boxing skills, and yes, you could see he had something in development.  But this time Fury was the bigger guy and it bodes well for other American heavyweights that Fury couldn’t retire his opponent inside of the 12 round limit.  I’m glad that Fury got the unanimous decision because you kind of like the guy in spite of his awkwardness and the UK could use a championship belt in the Heavyweight division. God save the Queen and all that! 

BUT REALLY:  The path is wide open for even a mediocre American heavyweight to take the title from Fury, who exhibited minimal boxing skills.  The happiest person in the Heavyweight World at this moment has to be Deontay Wilder who is way better than mediocre and knows how to fight.  I hope they get that fight hooked up soon b/c the division is embarrassing until they get some real talent in it.

It is true Fury  had some speed to his punches, and that was  good thing, for he was parsimonious in delivering them.  Or did it only look that way because of the floundering Klitschko, flapping his arms like an off-balance penguin as he looked for a spot where he could land a powerful right hand. (Manny Steward RIP) Klitschko still has the powerful and thudding right hand but he mostly seems to have left it in a past decade.  Nor did he have the excitement to win, which was evident even in the face of his ringside GF beauty Hayden Panettiere.  He seemed bored, like an 8^th grader in an extended lecture – OMG! Get me out of here. There was a little desire in the 11^th and 12^th rounds from Klitschko but it was too late.

HERE’S WHAT I HATE:  I hate being the OG telling younger people about the days of real heavyweights but I’m sorry.  Even the worst heavyweight in the eras of Ali, Frasier, Foremen, Quarry, Ezzard Charles, Floyd Paterson, Ingmar Johansen, Ernie Shavers, Bob Foster, Jimmy Young, Larry Holmes (none of this in order and the list could go on forever) Every one of these smaller heavyweights would have chopped down either of these two amateur imitating show-ups.  I mean, didn’t little guy cruiserweight boxer U.S.S. Steve Cunningham drop Klitschko in a previous fight? Corrie Sanders? Bryant? All of the present day. 

Want to say, I’m not a Klitschko hater -- I respect what he’s done outside the ring as well as inside. But it’s Father Time’s time. Your hearts not in it. Tyson Fury – you need to continue your development as a boxer.  Put things together. Looked like you were on a training exercise, ducking under your opponent and hiding where he keeps his deodorant.

 

Deontay Wilder. Straighten out this mess will you?