Artur Szpilka Inspired By Fury's Upset of Klitschko

By Keith Idec

Tyson Fury’s upset of Wladimir Klitschko encouraged Artur Szpilka to believe he can become the second significant underdog to win a heavyweight title within a short period of time.

Szpilka can join England’s Fury as a heavyweight champion if he can conquer Deontay Wilder in their 12-round fight for Wilder’s WBC title Jan. 16 at Barclays Center (Showtime).

“I have more confidence because I knew this generation was coming,” Szpilka stated. “Tyson Fury and I trained together. He was a heavyweight, I was a light heavyweight and we trained together with our national teams [England and Poland].

“When I saw him win, I thought, ‘Oh my God, yes, this is my time. Now everybody can win titles.’ You know? This is great and it’s new blood for boxing.”

The 6-6, 245-pound Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) was approximately a 5-1 favorite over the 6-9, 247-pound Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) before Fury won their Nov. 28 fight by unanimous decision in Dusseldorf, Germany. The 6-7, 230-pound Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Ala., is most commonly listed as a 16-1 favorite over the 6-3, 230-pound Szpilka (20-1, 15 KOs) by Internet sports books.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.