Tyson Fury’s trainer Peter Fury is confident Wladimir Klitschko will not slip up in Saturday’s world title defence and will face his nephew in September or October.
Not many will argue with Peter Fury’s assessment of American Bryant Jennings’ (19-0, 10 KOs) hopes against world No.1 heavyweight Klitschko (63-3, 50 KOs), who defends his WBA, IBF and WBO belts at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday.
Klitschko, 39, has not been beaten for 11 years and Saturday will be the 18th consecutive title defence of his second reign as champion. Fury cannot see how Jennings can pull off what would be one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight history.
“Jennings is a good heavyweight, a good technical boxer, but all of that falls to the wayside with the sheer size of Wladimir,” Peter Fury told ESPN.
“Jennings might win a round by staying on the outside but it will be a matter of time before Klitschko catches up with him. Klitschko is a quality boxer, let’s not forget, and it’s a foregone conclusion of early to mid-rounds stoppage for Klitschko.
“He’s not a big puncher or a big heavyweight. He will not be able to keep Wladimir off with power and he’s fairly inexperienced. Wladimir will be able to work him down before too long.
“Everyone will expect Wladimir to stop Jennings. Wladimir doesn’t tend to do too well with good, slick boxers like with Eddie Chambers a few years ago. If he doesn’t stop Jennings, he will be heavily criticised because he hasn’t pushed the boat and been too cautious which has happened before because he knows he’s assured of the win.
“The New York crowd will rip him to shreds if he’s over cautious. The New Yorkers want bloodshed and action and that’s what Tyson gave them when he fought Steve Cunningham there [in 2013].”
There is a chasm of experience between champion and challenger: Klitschko turned professional in 1996 after winning an Olympic gold medal when Jennings was 11. Jennings, 30, only first walked into a boxing gym in 2009 and was still working full-time as a maintenance man for a bank until August. While unbeaten, the only name on the Philadelphia boxer’s record of any note is Cuban Mike Perez, who he beat by a split decision in his last fight.
Fury believes Klitschko will try and dazzle an American audience following two fifth round stoppage wins in his last two fights.
“I think Wladimir will impress, like the way he defeated Kubrat Pulev in his last fight [in November],” Fury said.
“He wants to win in good fashion at the moment and he seems to be tired of the points wins. He wants to stop opponents now.”
Saturday will be Klitschko’s first performance on American soil since his underwhelming unanimous points triumph over Sultan Ibragimov at the same iconic venue in 2008. Impressing an American audience will also help Klitschko’s quest to set up a unification fight with Deontay Wilder, who won the WBC version of the world title at the start of the year.
However, Fury insists a potential fight with American Wilder will not come before Tyson Fury first gets his shot at Wladimir’s belts as the WBO mandatory challenger.
Tyson Fury, 26, extended his unbeaten record to 24 wins in February and the Manchester boxer, who is three inches taller than Klitschko, is waiting for his shot. “With Wilder being WBC champion it’s on the cards that Wladimir will want to fight him,” Peter Fury said.
“Boxing is a very dirty business. We can be told one thing that Wladimir wants to fight Tyson next, so to keep Tyson away from making a fight with Wilder, and at the same time they do another deal to fight Wilder.
“I’ve not dealt with the Klitschkos before so I’m not saying that’s what they are like. All the noises I’ve heard surrounding Tyson fighting Klitschko are positive.
“I’ve spoken to our promoter Mick Hennessy and he’s confident it will happen next. I’ve spoken to Frank Warren at [subscription TV channel] BoxNation and he’s confident it will happen in London. He’s talking to the Klitschko camp and we are hearing all the right things.
“Tyson is not going to give up the WBO mandatory slot, so Wladimir has to fight him and it will happen in September or October time. Hopefully they can start talking about it next week.
“You have only scratched the surface with Tyson at the moment and he has got another gear. Klitschko is coming to the end and Tyson is coming to his peak.”
