Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko Rematch Set for Manchester

Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury throws down in his hometown for his first title defense this summer.

The mouthy Mancunian faces Wladimir Klitschko in a rematch on July 9 at the Manchester Arena.

“It wasn’t very important for the fight to be in Manchester, but it was very important that I wasn’t going back to Germany,” Fury explained to reporters. “I wouldn’t go back. End of [discussion]. I wouldn’t get a decision. It’s in England. Wherever it was [in the UK], I wasn’t bothered.”

The undefeated Fury captured a unanimous decision victory against Klitschko in Germany in November. Outworking a lethargic Klitschko in the first bout, Fury utilized his six-foot-nine height to frustrate the Ukrainian accustomed to raining mechanical jabs down upon shorter opponents. The Brit broke Klitschko’s 22-fight, 11-year winning streak via a unanimous decision.

The rematch comes not without a significant amount of hype.

While the Klitschkos emerged as the faces of the heavyweight division through most of the new century, Fury last year became the big mouth of the big-man ranks, throwing insults at the stoic Ukrainian in a Batman costume, opining that “a woman’s best place is in the kitchen and on her back,” and dismissing mixed-martial arts as for “white kids who can’t box.”