Tyson Fury Injects New Life To Heavyweight Division

By Thomas Gerbasi

The headlines say it all:

Tyson Fury kisses gay man in Lancashire pub and changes his opinion

Tyson Fury had secret fling during two-month marriage split

BBC rejects calls to remove Tyson Fury from Sports Personality shortlist

Those are just the openers from a recent Google News search coming more than two weeks after Tyson Fury's upset of Wladimir Klitschko. In other professional sports, this is par for the course these days. In boxing, particularly heavyweight boxing, its given new life to a division ruled so dominantly by Klitschko that it became boring.

Yes, Fury, the new WBA / WBO / IBO (and already former IBF) world heavyweight champion is off the wall with his often incendiary and misguided comments, but after defeating Klitschko on November 28, and with the buzz about that victory not subsiding in the least, he may very well be the divisions unlikely savior.

With the win, the 27-year-old Brit has opened up the heavyweight division to fighters who now feel like the road is clear for them to make a run at the top, and he also has fans hoping that his seizure of most of the belts will lead to a showdown with Deontay Wilder should Fury-Klitschko II end up with the same result as the first bout.

Of course, its hard to believe that Klitschko could possibly look as bad a second time as he did last month, but maybe 39 years and 68 fights caught up to a man who was unbeaten for the last 11 years, and Fury was just the man who got him at the right time.

But regardless of the circumstances and the sleep-inducing 12-rounder put together by the pair at the ESPRIT Arena in Dusseldorf, as soon as the verdict was rendered, Furys decision to sing an Aerosmith ballad to his wife in the middle of the ring - and in his opponents backyard no less - made most forget about the previous 36 minutes of tedium and embrace Fury as the new King of the Big Men.

No, Fury is no Joe Frazier or Larry Holmes behind the mic or with gloves on, but he is what we expect a heavyweight champion to be, and thats someone who is larger than life. He may make you angry, he may make you smile, you may love him or you may hate him, but the bottom line is that you will feel something.

Even Wilder, despite all his knockouts and being the last American hope in the heavyweight division, doesnt have the spark Fury has. When he was introduced to the crowd during the recent Daniel Jacobs-Peter Quillin bout at Barclays Center earlier this month, he was greeted with polite applause, which could be cause for concern since hes headlining in the same building against Artur Szpilka on January 16. And truth be told, Wilders too nice of a guy to be getting the press Fury gets. Lets face it, being the villain always sells, and Fury has no issue playing that role, and he never has.

But even those wearing the black hat have layers.

More than two years ago, Fury was about to make his New York City debut against Steve Cunningham. The buzz was already pretty big in the UK, and now it was time to take it overseas. The six-foot-nine heavyweight did plenty of press for the bout, nothing like now, but enough to where headlines with his name in them were becoming commonplace. And while he was certainly brash, he could tone things down, be thoughtful with his responses, and basically be like a Pernell Whitaker of an interview darting in and out, never letting you corner him, but still delivering a memorable performance. He also had a memorable story that he didnt mind sharing. Sure, he hadnt beat Steve Cunningham yet, but I asked him about fighting Wladimir Klitschko.

I know the Klitschkos have been successful for the past ten years and they speak 25 different languages and theyre in great shape, but who wants to be a Klitschko? he asked. People dont grow up thinking yeah, I want to be like a Klitschko. Im named after Mike Tyson. My name is Tyson, so he must have influenced my father. I dont know many people who are named Wladimir because of Wladimir or Vitali because of Vitali. Because you dont grow up wanting to be like them. But you did grow up wanting to be like Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and all these other guys. And thats what I aim to do; I aim to bring the glory days back to heavyweight boxing. Its been dull for a while. Youve got these European fighters that are just all jab and grab and theyre just not exciting. People are sick of being bored to death for 12 rounds, and theres no seizing the opportunity anywhere in it. Its like if I can knock a guy out in two rounds, Ill take him ten just in case he throws a hook back. People are sick of that.

Be sick no longer. Tyson Fury is here. It may not be for long for his detractors thats a good thing, for his fans a bad thing - but whether you want him to win or want him to be obliterated, its likely that you care about what happens in the heavyweight division again. For too long, that wasnt the case, and the sports glamour division deserves better, even if Tyson Fury is no Mike Tyson.