Peter Fury: ‘The World Hasn’t Seen the Best Tyson Fury Yet’

Tyson Fury did his part. The new heavyweight champion of the world beat the old heavyweight champion of the world, Wladimir Klitschko, rather convincingly on Nov. 28 in Klitschko’s own backyard, Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, taking away the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight belts.

While the boxing community was railing on social media about all the things Klitschko didn’t do -- such as landing 52 of 231 total punches, or about 4.5 punches per round -- momentarily lost was that the 27-year-old Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) toppled someone who hadn’t been defeated in 11 years. Fury did something no one thought he could do: neutralize Klitschko and make him look more hesitant than normal, and at every bit of his 39 years.

Not everyone thought Klitschko would win. Peter Fury, obviously, was one of them. Tyson’s uncle and trainer, whose work will earn him “Trainer of the Year” consideration, saw how to take apart Klitschko, devised a game plan and then watched his nephew implement it perfectly.

“I was very confident in Tyson’s ability. We always believed we had Klitschko’s number and Tyson totally believed we could win, and so did I,” Peter Fury said this week in an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com. “We went in with our game plan and executed it as we planned. Klitschko didn’t show us anything that we weren’t expecting. There were no surprising in that. Everything went according to plan. Klitschko weaknesses is his sheer fighting ability. Tyson gave him a boxing lesson. There’s no need to break down his defense down and get on him, because the more you feint against Klitschko, the more he’s going to move. The more he’s going to be here, there and everywhere and leave himself open to counters as well. We wanted Tyson to work behind the jab and use his length.

“Klitschko would get desperate when he realizes that he’s not doing any good, and he’ll try and force the pace and get caught even more. That’s exactly what happened. Klitschko is a very defensive fighter, but to be fair, Tyson is also a very defensive fighter. When you have two fighters that are big like that and are defensive fighters, it becomes a bit of a chess match. We had to time him, when to fake, when to jab and when to move. I wanted to Tyson to enjoy himself in there, let his punches flow and box.”

Peter Fury said Tyson did over 700 rounds of sparring in preparation for the fight. He entered the bout in the best shape of his life, weighing in at 247 pounds, the second lightest he’s ever been for a fight. He was in training camp for five months, and the main thrust during training was to negate Klitschko from getting his shots off. That’s where the feints and movement came in. Peter Fury felt that constant movement, the innate fear that Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) still has of being knocked out -- which is the way Klitschko lost his previous three times -- remains in his conscience.

Peter knew in the first round that they had Klitschko.

“There was nothing wrong with Klitschko. He wasn’t gun shy of being stopped,” said Peter Fury, the younger brother of Tyson’s father, John. “Klitschko was being controlled by Tyson. To the naked eye, Klitschko wasn’t getting off, but what we did was make Klitschko guess. He didn’t know what a feint was and what a punch was. He got very confused. Boxing is an art. It’s not a toughman competition. It’s about using your brains and skills, all to the maximum. We messed with Klitschko’s timing. Look, throw out everything we said before the fight. Myself and Tyson think of Wladimir Klitschko is a brave man, a good, decent man inside and outside the ring. We think he’s a great person who does wonderful things for people around the world. He’s an all-time great and was the best heavyweight in the world for a long time. He’s a hall of famer, but it’s his time. He came across somebody who’s a major talent and destined for great things.”

Peter Fury was understandably upset with referee Tony Weeks, who deducted a point from Tyson for rabbit punching in the 11th round. Peter saw it differently.

“There wasn’t really anything in the back of the head, just a tap,” Peter said. “I think he let Wladimir buy some time. Maybe he thought, This is a great champion and we don’t need him to go out like this. I think he gave Wladimir a little bit of a lift. Wladimir was hurt in the 11th round. Tyson gave Klitschko a boxing lesson. He won a unanimous decision in Germany. Just imagine what is there, and I’ve said this in many interviews, we’ve only saw 60-percent of Tyson’s ability. We’re excited about the rematch. Wladimir may try different tactics, but whatever he brings, we have another 40-percent to build on what Tyson can do. I’m delighted with the rematch, because we’re going to see a Tyson Fury explode on the heavyweight scene. I want him to beat Wladimir convincingly this time within the distance -- and I believe he will this time. I liken this rematch to Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston. It was more one-sided the second time around. That’s what will happen in the rematch. I see it happening again.”

Peter Fury said the rematch is being targeted for some time in April or May 2016. He said the fight could place at Wembley Stadium in London, though Fury and team would be willing to go back to Esprit Arena in Dusseldorf.

“Whatever the best deal is, that’s where we’ll go,” Peter said. “I think once we get Wladimir Klitschko out of the way, we’re looking at Deontay Wilder and we like that fight in the United States next year. That’s a great fight between a big English guy who’s the world champion, against a big American who’s a world champion. And they are two guys that like to talk. There will definitely be some exchanges that will be going in that press conference. People don’t know or haven’t seen the real Tyson Fury. Have you ever seen a heavyweight on his toes like that for 12 rounds? Believe me, the world hasn’t seen the best Tyson Fury yet!”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.