WATCH: When Tyson Fury Broke a Decade Long Streak to Become the Heavyweight Champion

For Tyson Fury and the boxing community, the year 2015 has a special place. It was when Fury went 12 rounds against Wladimir Klitschko to end his 11 years of unprecedented reign. 11 years that saw Klitschko win 22 fights and 19 title defences.

Although Klitschko was 39, many believed he was still too good for Fury. But Fury managed to shock everyone when he, quite deservedly, won by unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 115–112, 115–112, and 116–111.

Both the fighters were more on the defensive but Fury did enough to take the decision. The win earned him WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, IBO, The Ring magazine, and lineal heavyweight titles.

Fury was emotional after his historic win and thanked Klitschko. “This is a dream come true. We worked so hard for this. I’ve done it. It’s hard to come to foreign countries and get decisions. It just means so much to me to come here and get the decision,” Fury said in the post-fight interview.

“I’d like to say to Wladimir, you’re a great champion. And thanks very much for having me. It was all fun and games during the buildup.”

Tasting defeat after a long time, Klitschko admitted that his opponent was better on the night, praising his speed.

“Tyson was the faster and better man tonight,” he said. “I felt quite comfortable in the first six rounds, but I was astonished that Tyson was so fast in the second half as well. I couldn’t throw my right hand because the advantage was the longer distance he had.”

Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko had a rematch cancelled

Klitschko had a rematch clause in place. After months of negotiation, the Klitschko–Fury rematch was announced on 8 April 2016. The fight was scheduled to take place in Manchester on July 9, 2016. With just over two weeks to go for the fight, it was postponed due to an ankle sprain to Fury.

It was rescheduled to take place in October but Fury once again postponed it declaring himself unfit.

On October 12, Fury vacated the WBA “Super”, WBO and IBO titles, citing problems with depression after testing positive for cocaine.

Also read: Tyson Fury Makes A Genius Move To Taunt Deontay Wilder

After the fight was cancelled, Klitschko agreed to fight IBF champion Anthony Joshua for the vacant WBA and IBO titles as well as Joshua’s IBF title. The pair fought at Wembley Stadium in London on April 29, 2017, with Joshua winning by TKO in the eleventh round.