ANY suggestion that Tyson Fury is now a shoo-in for a World Title showdown with Wladimir Klitschko should be left at the dressing room door.
The Manchester-born fighter became the mandatory challenger for the WBO World Heavyweight title after he bludgeoned the notorious Dereck ‘Del Boy’ Chisora into submission after 10 rounds of their British and European title clash in the early hours of Sunday morning at the ExCel Arena in London’s Docklands.
The result means Wladimir Klitschko has to commit to fight him before the end of February and now has nowhere to run.
Klitschko either fights or vacates the belt. But boxing being boxing, it’s never that simple.
It’s most likely, in fact, that Klitschko will vacate or work out some kind of a deal to give the fight against Fury a swerve.
Wladimir may be the younger Klitschko brother, but at 38 he’s in the twilight of his career and will not fancy fighting the Irishman.
Fury is too big, too dangerous and doesn’t bring in enough dough for Klistchko to risk defeat against when can cherry-pick opponents at this stage of his career.
Klitschko could fight an easier opponent, possibly the aging Shannon Briggs and probably for more money.
More money and less risk has almost become a Klitschko motif.
Interestingly, Saturday night drew a Klitschko-style performance from Fury. The taller fighter worked off the jab and wore his British opponent down.
Chisora never managed to land a meaningful glove on his opponent.
The contest had high expectations, coming as it did after a tight points decision in the last bout.
It was billed as two fighters who have improved from their first encounter, with some commentators tipping Chisora to fire out of the blocks to take revenge. But the reality proved very different.
Fury made a marked improvement. He looked a different fighter, dominating proceedings from the first bell.
Tactically, the switch to Southpaw in Round 2 proved the doing of his man.
Of course he’s done it before, most memorably against Martin Rogan in Belfast to win the Irish title in 2012.
It did for Chisora, who was banking on landing his big overhand right.
But Fury peppered him and the one-sided nature of the contest did few favours for the contest as a spectacle.
It was way more one-sided than anticipated.
A 1am start, a tired audience and missed tubes didn’t help either and a few boos ringing out was testimony to that fact.
Fury ground his opponent down, never leaving third gear.
But never took a risk either and with a rapidly closing right eye, Chisora never made it out for the 11th after trainer Don Charles told him the wanted his charge to finish on his feet and not on the canvas.
This weekend we’re hoping for something a bit more spicy.
Having recently returned from Australia, likeable young Dubliner Jono Carroll is in with a fighting chance having snatched the final slot in Matchroom’s ‘Prizefighter’ event in East London’s York Hall, which will be televised on Sky Sports.
Eight ‘up-and-coming’ and ‘last chance saloon’ type boxers meet on the night, with the winner taking £32,000.
Carroll is the least experienced in a line-up that includes former British champion Gary Buckland and ex-European title holder Stephen Foster Jnr. The 22-year-old has little to lose when pitched in against the experienced sluggers.
Finally, my shout for this weekend is a win for Irishman Martin Joseph Ward who fights Maxi Hughes on Saturday. If you’re feeling braver, then take him to win on points.
