World champion Wladimir Klitschko takes on SportsRatings #4 ranked Tyson Fury in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Wladimir Klitschko
64-3-0 (53 KO)
6'-6"
246 lbs.
Tyson Fury
24-0-0 (18 KO)
6'-9"
246 lbs.
Fury and Klitschko have entered the ring.
National anthems and introductions have commenced, along with obligatory "let's get ready to rumble."
Round-by-round scoring:
- Round One: The boxers both look very tall in the ring, both fighting at distance early, nothing landing, pawing at each other. Left hook from Fury comes close, a few jabs from Klitschko. Fury's guard is low, throwing jabs from low trajectory. Lots of nothing going on, first clinch of the fight. Fury is hyperactive, leads with left again, gets in a jab. Exchange at end of round. Who won the round? Hard to say. Punting on this one. 10-10
- Round Two: Fury and Klitshchko exchange jabs....Fury keeping guard very low, staying at distance. Fury rushes in for attack and lands with the left. Fury trying to knock Klitschkos arms away, takes short hit from Klitschko. Round ends with Fury maybe the more successful with very little again, no damage done. Fury 10-9; Fury 20-19.
- Round Three: Klitschko likely playing the long game, waiting for Fury to slow down his activity. For now he's being very careful. His jabs are very tentative as Fury stays far back. Fury doing almost nothing at midpoint of round. Big swing from Klitschko misses, Fury now in southpaw. Two clinches, Fury hits the back of the head in clinch. Fury didn't connect with anything else this round, give this one to Klitschko for actually trying something. Klitschko 10-9; 29-29.
- Round Four: Klitschko more agressive at the start with jabs. Fury counters with sloppy left hook. Near middle of round both have slowed down and are back to early output. More clinching. Two big swings from Fury hit Klitschko's gloves. Good exchange but both miss. Another exchange and both connect. Another too-close round. 10-10; 39-39.
- Round Five: Quick clinch as fighters are closer together. Fury ducking low into clinches. More back of head punches in clinch. Fury connects with jabs, moves out of range. Fury looking confident in middle of round, dancing. Another low duck clinch from Fury. Fury misses big and spins out. Klitschko actually has cut on his face, probably from heads connecting. Fury 10-9; Fury 49-48.
- Round Six: Fury continues movement at range. Solid left jab from Fury. Klitschko still looks tentative. Good left jab from Fury again. Klitschko stalking him down but not letting fists go. Fury mocks him with hands behind back. Jab again from Fury, attempts rare combo. Klitschko jab. Fury ducks jabs. Fury 10-9; Fury 59-57.
- Round Seven: Left hook from Fury misses, Fury backfist punch connects after another miss. Fury jumping in and attacking. Klitschko is looking very annoyed. Fury connects with close combo. Klitschko's counters not as effective as usual. Fury backs up Klitschko, another clinch. Fury puts hands behind back again, another clinch. Another round for Fury 10-9; Fury 69-66.
- Round Eight: Klitschko's corner seems to know he may be behind on cards, and at some point he will have to take chances. Fury backed into corner, clinch again. Fury hangs back, another clinch. Fury jumps in again with arms swinging. Klischko's jab connects. Fury bodyshots at break of clinch. Fury ducks into clinch again. Klitschko trying to get jab working. Klitschko jumps in this time, clinch again. That was just a clinchfest. 10-10; Fury 79-76.
- Round Nine: More action early, but both fighters quick to clinch. Klitschko lands two solid rights. Fury warned again for rabbit punches. Klitschko misses with right. Huge left by Fury after having his back turned. Jab from Fury. Did Fury win the round with that punch? Punting again, dammit. 10-10; Fury 89-86;
- Round Ten: Jabs from both fighters, Fury swinging away. Fury staying at distance, Klitschko hasn't got his rhythm yet. Big swing from Fury coming off clinch misses. Both wrestle in corner. Klitschko gets in close, and he goes for the clinch? Fury 10-9; Fury 99-95.
- Round Eleven: Corner pleading for Klitschko to throw the right hand. Klitscho does start more aggressive. Klitschko moves in, then backs out. More clinching. Doesn't seem to reflect the urgency that his corner had. He looks resigned to whatever the cards say. One minute to go in the round. Wladimir looks tentative again. Solid left hook by Fury. Fury hits him again. Fury hits the side of Wlad's head in the clinch, and Fury gets a point deducted for rabbit punch. 9-9 with deduction; Fury 108-104.
- Round Twelve: Fury hits the back of head in the clinch again, another warning for both boxers. Fury gets in a good punch as the two wrestle. Big right hand from Klitschko, best of the night. Left from Klitschko. Big clinch, then Fury is hurt again. Fury hit again, and hanging on with one minute left. Fury still keeping guard low at the one time he needs to keep them high. Huge right from Klitschko again. Big round from Wladimir but it might not be enough. Almost a 10-8 round but Fury stayed up. Klitschko 10-9; Fury 117-114.
The scores could go either way, especially in Germany. Did Fury really "take away" the title? Not really, but he probably outpointed him on the cards. The point deduction could conceivably be the difference in a fight where neither fighter did much of anything, which might mean Klitschko keeping his title.
115-112; 115-112; 116-111; winner: Tyson Fury. Amazing.
The cards basically reflected what we saw, winning by a narrow decision—two judges matching our 3-point win, and one with a 5-point win. Wladimir Klitschko has no one to blame but himself—he really only woke up in the last round; if he had opened up even a couple rounds earlier he could have knocked Fury out, or managed to win a decision. Instead he remained tentative for 11 rounds and lost the fight.
Now Tyson Fury is singing a song, so we will sign out.
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