Wladimir Klitschko successfully defended his heavyweight titles against Bryant Jennings on Saturday, and is now eyeing a clash with mandatory challenger Tyson Fury.
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Klitschko secured a unanimous 12-round points decision at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night to pick up his 22nd consecutive win in his 18th straight world title fight.
While the history books await the 39-year-old as he moves ever closer to the record of 25 title defences set by Joe Louis, he immediately switched his attention to his next fight and conceded that he would likely have to face Fury in Europe and seemed open to the possibility of the bout taking place in the UK.
“Obviously a fight with Tyson Fury is not going to be in the United States. I think this fight needs to happen in Europe. I know that he’s the WBA mandatory. It’s something that I have to do,” he said in the ring after the Jennings fight, according to Sky Sports.
“Fighting Fury in Germany or in Great Britain, that’s something we have to figure out. It’s something we have to work out.”
Klitschko praised Jennings as he thought he was the most dangerous opponent that he had faced in some time, but that didn’t prevent him from inflicting a first professional loss on the American.
The Ukrainian star dictated the fight early with his jab but was unable to land his big right hand with any regularity. Despite having a point deducted in the final round for repeated holding, Klitschko still enjoyed a wide margin on the scorecards taking it 116-111 with two judges while the third had it 118-109.
While Fury is now seemingly the next man to step up and attempt to end Klitschko’s reign at the top, another unbeaten American and current WBC champion Deontay Wilder could also be a possibility.
It remains to be seen whether or not Klitschko is able to fight anyone but Fury given the Brit’s mandatory status for his WBA belt, but a unification fight with Wilder would certainly result in another huge night of boxing in the USA with both men showing a great deal of respect towards one another after previously sparring.
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