• Heavyweight

Fury: Who wants to be a Klitschko?

ESPN staff
April 17, 2013

Tyson Fury continues to antagonise the Klitschkos, branding the Ukrainian brothers "boring" as he prepares to make his US debut against Steve Cunningham on Saturday.

The 24-year-old faces Cunningham in New York's Madison Square Garden in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator bout, with the winner potentially set to take on Kubrat Pulev. Should Fury emerge unscathed from both encounters, the Brit will be in line to fight world champion Wladimir Klitschko.

"I know the Klitschkos have been successful for the past ten years and they speak 25 different languages and they're in great shape, but who wants to be a Klitschko?" Fury is quoted as saying on BoxingScene.com.

"People don't grow up thinking 'Yeah, I want to be like a Klitschko.' I'm named after Mike Tyson. My name is Tyson, so he must have influenced my father. I don't know many people who are named Wladimir because of Wladimir or Vitali because of Vitali. Because you don't grow up wanting to be like them. But you did grow up wanting to be Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and all these other guys."

Wladimir Klitschko holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts, while older brother Vitali is the WBC champion. Fury is determined to change the face of heavyweight boxing and bring the brothers' domination to an end.

"And that's what I aim to do; I aim to bring the glory days back to heavyweight boxing. It's been dull for a while," Fury, unbeaten in 20 career fights, said. "You've got these European fighters that are just all jab and grab and they're just not exciting. People are sick of being bored to death for 12 rounds, and there's no seizing the opportunity anywhere in it. It's like 'If I can knock a guy out in two rounds, I'll take him ten just in case he throws a hook back.' People are sick of that.

"There's nobody who's come, grabbed the division by the balls, and kicked it on its head. And that's where I come in. I'm not all talk; you get these British hype jobs and these European fighters and they can't really fight. If Steve Cunningham gives me a good fight then I can't fight and I'm not gonna be the super champion that I'm saying I'm gonna be.

"I like to be real, I don't want to con anybody and I can fight. I can fight southpaw, orthodox, in close, outwards, upside down - whatever you want to do. I throw combinations, I punch hard, and I'm an exciting fighter. So here we are, the saviour of the heavyweight division."

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