By Luke Furman
Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov is not surprised that Tyson Fury pulled off the major upset on Saturday night when he pulled over a unanimous decision victory over Wladimir Klitschko to capture the WBO/IBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight titles in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Hryunov (on behalf of Frank Warren) was present at the mandatory purse bid for this bout. He had a bid ready of $18 million dollars, which was more than enough to outbid the parties who were present. But Hryunov was never able to submit the bid because Fury's promoter Mick Hennessy reached a deal at the last minute with Klitschko's team.
"I'm not surprised by the victory of Tyson Fury," admitted Hryunov. "The way Klitschko behaved [prior to the fight] says a lot. He knew it was coming and feared losing. Initially, we planned to make the fight in Russia, in Grozny or in England. When the fight was moved to Germany, we would have incurred significant financial costs."
"I think it all of this happened because Klitschko's gas tank has run out. And the things that he was able to do in the ring in the past, it would be impossible for him to do them now. Klitschko looked like an ordinary boxer."
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.
