Boxing News 2016: Ex-Heavyweight Champ David Haye Says Fury As New Champ Is '1000 Times Better' Than Klitschko
Former two-division world champion David Haye is a bigger fan of Tyson Fury as a world champion compared to Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury won the WBO, WBA (Super), IBO, and IBF titles against "Dr. Steelhammer" during their November 28 fight in Dusseldorf, Germany. The 27-year-old British boxer handed Klitschko his first loss in ten years, while ending his nine-year championship reign at the same time.
Currently, Fury and Klitschko are set to meet in a rematch in a still undetermined date this year, after the latter chose to exercise the rematch clause that was part of their pre-fight agreement.
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Haye had always been critical of Klitschko as a fighter, noting that he was not a fan of the Kazakh's boxing style. And in a report by Vadim Pushkin for Boxingscene, Haye says Fury as a champion is actually a more refreshing scenario, compared to the Klitschko era that began in 2005.
"It was simply time for a change," Haye said, according to the Boxingscene report. "Wladimir Klitschko is so incredibly boring. Tyson Fury may be an idiot, but he's entertaining. He sings in the ring. And he dressed up at the press conference as Batman and running around like a madman. That's funny."
Fury's outspoken demeanor has put him in the ranks of boxing's most notorious trash talkers. At one point, he even criticized UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor for allegedly copying his style of self-promotion.
Fury also got in trouble recently for making anti-homosexual slurs in the later part of 2015, before his Klitschko fight. But despite this, BBC still awarded him the Sports Personality of the Year award in 2015.
Haye adds that despite Fury's penchant for being involved in such controversies, at the end of the day, it brings the attention to boxing's heavyweight division. And after describing boxing as a "theater," Haye also says Fury as a champion can only be more of an advantage.
"That is why Tyson Fury to me as world champion is a thousand times better than Wladimir Klitschko," Haye said.
