by David P. Greisman
Tyson Fury has arrived in shape for the biggest fight of his career.
Fury stepped on the scales on Friday afternoon in the city of Essen, a decent drive northeast of the stadium in Dusseldorf where tens of thousands of people will watch the undefeated contender challenge heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday.
Fury came in at 246.4 pounds, while Klitschko was 245.3 pounds.
This is the lightest Fury has been in more than three years. He was slightly less than 246 pounds for his 2012 wins over Martin Rogan and Vinny Maddalone and at 248 later that year when he outpointed Kevin Johnson. But then he was up at 254 for a stoppage of Steve Cunningham in 2013, 274 for a stay busy fight with Joey Abell in 2014, 264 for his stoppage of Dereck Chisora about a year ago, and 260 for his technical knockout of Christian Hammer earlier this year.
“I feel fantastic. I feel strong. I feel fit,” Fury told reporters afterward. “He’s come in light as well, so it’s going to be speed versus speed. Speed equals power.”
The 27-year-old is 24-0 with 18 KOs. He predicted that win number 25 would come via knockout in the fifth round.
Klitschko hasn’t been stopped since his 2004 loss to Lamon Brewster and hasn’t even suffered a knockdown since his first fight with Samuel Peter back in 2005. Since then he’s dominated the heavyweight division, capturing a world title from Chris Byrd in 2006 and defending it with 18 straight victories. He’s also unified that belt with two others, and has been the lineal champion since his 2009 win over Ruslan Chagaev.
The 39-year-old is four pounds heavier than he was for his April win over Bryant Jennings but otherwise is easily within the range he tends to be, and looked as usual to be in great shape. He is 64-3 with 53 KOs.
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