It seems we will be left to forever ponder what would have happened had heavyweight rivals Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko fought a rematch; as they were twice scheduled to do, only for the return meeting to fall through on both occasions.
Bernd Boente, Klitschko’s long-time manager, spoke with Sky Sports, and he said that no way does Wladimir or himself “want to deal with this group of people again.” Boente is understandably unwilling to forgive Fury for wasting Klitschko’s time in not going ahead with the rematch (Fury pulling out of the second arranged date for the sequel).
And, win or lose against Anthony Joshua on April 29, Klitschko will not waste any further time trying to get Fury into the ring.
“Nobody of us ever wants to deal with this group of people again, especially including myself,” Boente said. “It was a lost year and don’t forget Wladimir is not 18 years old and starting as a pro. Nobody wants that any more. Wladimir would have loved – he showed that in different press conferences – to have that rematch because he knows he had a complete off night. He literally threw two, three punches per round and had he thrown as many punches as in the last round, he probably would have won the fight. But he didn’t and he definitely wanted to show the public and especially to himself that he can beat this guy.”
Boente says his fighter will, in the Joshua fight, face a “way better opponent” than Fury. If Klitschko beats Joshua, in so doing regaining two of the belts he lost to Fury, he will have gone a long way towards redeeming himself for the 2015 loss. But if he fails to avenge the loss to Fury, will Klitschko’s legacy be affected?
Nobody likes, ‘what if?’ scenarios. If Klitschko wins this month, and if Fury gets back in top shape and returns victorious to the ring, that rematch should happen. If it doesn’t, Klitschko may regret it for the rest of his life. Even if he destroys Joshua in a round or two, “Dr. Steel Hammer” has something to prove against Fury.