By Vadim Pushkin
Former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53KOs) realizes that he made some very critical mistakes in last November's defense against Tyson Fury (25-0, 18KOs) in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Fury managed to pull off the impossible with a twelve round unanimous decision victory to give Klitschko his first defeat in over a decade. The win gave Fury the WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF world heavyweight titles.
Klitschko was very inactive with his punches. He rejected a lot of the rumors that he wasn't in shape, that he suffered some sort of injury in the ring or even in training camp.
He says Fury's style created a lot of problems and prevented him from being able to hit the target.
"I was in the best physical shape of my life. But no physical form will help you unless it's combined with a good psychological condition. It was not an injury. I could not catch the target with the right punches. It annoyed me terribly, and when your emotions begin to rise it creates some stiffness, stiffness," Klitschko told championat.
"I felt the distance. I was thinking too much....about counting. I had to work on instinct, that killer instinct. I kept waiting for something and the opportunity to fix things. I got uncomfortable, and all of this has caused some fatigue, discouragement, even confusion. You aim and hit, and with Fury the target was out of reach all the time."
Klitschko was not used to a fighter of Fury's size to stay away, move on his toes for the entire fight. He expected Fury to come after him, as he promised many time in pre-fight interviews.
Instead of waiting to counter, Klitschko says he should have come forward with punches being thrown with both hands.
"He fought the fight in a predominantly defensive manner and most of the time he kept his distance. If he ran at me like Kubrat Pulev, everything would be different. With Pulev he was right there. And when I threw enough punches and I didn't land because Fury was out of reach," Klitschko said.
"With him, we had to come forward, knowing that the first two, and maybe three punches will hit the air, and only the fourth or fifth [punch] will get through - and I did not do that. His size, his very awkward style....he was very precise in his approach. But most importantly, this was entirely my fault."
A rematch is set, with Klitschko exercising an immediate meeting through a contract clause. The date and location of the second fight is unknown, but Klitschko promises to correct many of his mistakes in the second fight.
