Sensational Victory in Heavyweight Boxing

Young Irishman Upsets Long-Time Champion

Tyson Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision Saturday to end the Ukrainian’s 9 1/2-year reign as heavyweight champion and fulfil his father’s prophesy from the day he was born.

Born three months early and weighing just one pound (0.45 kg), Fury wasn’t given much chance to live, but John Fury told doctors it was his destiny to live and become heavyweight champion of the world. He named the second of his six sons Tyson, after Mike Tyson, one of the most famous champions of all times.

Twenty-seven years later, the 2.09-meter (6-foot-9) Tyson Fury, who was born in a travelling gypsy family and comes from a bloodline of boxing champions on both sides of his family, finally lived up to his name.

“It’s something I’ve been working on for my whole life,” Fury said. “I’m bred to be a fighter.”

It wasn’t just by being the first man for 11 years to beat Wladimir Klitschko that Tyson Fury proved he is far from being a typical heavyweight.

Fury produced a major upset by defeating Klitschko on points at ESPRIT Arena in Düsseldorf on Saturday night, claiming the world heavyweight championship in the process, with both the victory and the celebration being far from routine.

Over the course of 12 rounds, Fury gave Klitschko all he could handle and more, dominating the contest in a way that the giant Ukrainian has never experienced before.

Then, he celebrated his triumph by serenading his wife Paris and the crowd with a rendition of Aerosmith’s love ballad “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” just as he had promised before the bout.

It has been quite a few days for Fury, who learned on Friday that he is to become a father for a third time and controlled the fight throughout with a sense of belief and movement that few had predicted.

For Klitschko looked like one of the most unbeatable fighters in boxing, right up until the night when he was outduelled, outmuscled and outpointed by Fury, the giant challenger from England.

“I was bigger, stronger, fitter and faster,” Fury said, and he was right on all counts although he had gone into the fight as an underdog, with experts roundly confident that Klitschko, who ruled the division for 11 years, taking on all-comers and dispatching them with technical efficiency and ease, would retain his heavyweight title.

After taking the WBA, IBF and WBO belts and pocketing £4million, he thanked Jesus and dedicated his win to travellers everywhere. He said his success was rooted in his gypsy heritage and devout Christian faith.