By Vadim Pushkin
Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is backing his younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, to get revenge when he faces Tyson Fury for a second time.
Last November, Fury shocked the entire sport by boxing to a twelve round unanimous decision over Wladimir to capture the IBF/WBO/WBA/IBO titles. Fury has since been stripped of the IBF belt, but still claims the remaining three titles.
It was Wladimir's first defeat in over a decade. Vitali have his thoughts on the loss.
"Everybody used to think that all of the opponents who were beaten by the Klitschko brothers were nothing and perceived them to be whipping boys, and no one thinks about the fact that when you go into the ring you have a 50-50 chance. This is boxing, a sport where it is impossible predict the outcome of the match. [The outcome] depends on many components," Vitali said.
Vitali, who retired in 2014 to pursue a political career, is still pretty shocked with Wladimir's defeat, but he expects his brother to come out victorious in the rematch.
"I do not know of any athlete in boxing who has better technique than Wladimir, who has a better display of power, a better jab ... Frankly, I was very surprised with Wladimir's loss, because I didn't believe Tyson Fury was the kind of athlete who could provide a lot of resistance against Wladimir. But there are days when [your body does not work as it should] and the speed is not present, and there is no power. And I told him...'Wladimir, what happened to you? I didn't recognize you.' That was probably not his day," Vitali explained.
"[After the fight] I spoke to him honestly and I told him - 'you know brother, you have proved everything to everyone. You have two options: the first - to say that you were the strongest, achieved what no one was able to achieve in the sport, and thank everyone ... Or the second option - [tell everyone] I'm not going to leave; I will come back and show everyone that it was a pure accident.' Wladimir chose the second way. He has a very good chance [to win], and I am confident that Wladimir will make good use of this opportunity."
