Klitschko v Fury: The night that changed the course of heavyweight history

Soon after the final bell brought an end to his 12-round fight against Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf five years ago today, Tyson Fury took himself away from the throng gathered in the centre of the ring, covered his eyes with his still-wrapped hands and prayed: “In the name of Jesus, don’t rob me in this country.”

The wait seemed interminable until finally, Michael Buffer took his place inside the ring. A hush settled over the 55,000 fans gathered in the arena as he raised the microphone to his lips with his right hand and looked down at his left, which grasped a sheet of paper revealing the destinies of both fighters: “Ladies and gentlemen, we go to the scorecards…”

From the first judge: 115-112. From the second, 115-112. And from the third, 116-111. “All three scores, to the winner by unanimous decision, from the United Kingdom, the new unified heavyweight champion of the world, Tysoooooon Fury.”

The challenger threw off his robe and jumped into the arms of his uncle and trainer Peter Fury before a tumult of emotions sent the 6ft 9in heavyweight falling to his knees.

It was, screamed the commentator, the start of a new era in heavyweight boxing.

He wasn’t wrong. The fight marked a record-breaking 28th heavyweight title bout for Klitschko and his 19th defence in his second reign as world champion. But at that moment nobody could have predicted just how much Fury’s victory that night would alter the heavyweight scene.

Though the fight itself wasn’t one to live long in the memory, it is one that will go down in history for so many other reasons. Not only did it mark the end of Klitschko’s lengthy reign, but it also proved to be the end of the line for two relationships that had been key to Fury’s ascension to world champion; one with his long-time promoter Mick Hennessy and the other with his trainer (and uncle) Peter Fury.

And above all, it set in motion a chain of events that could yet lead to one of the most highly anticipated heavyweight bouts in an era: Fury versus Anthony Joshua.

The Athletic has tracked down some of the main protagonists from that night to take us back to Dusseldorf and reveal exactly what went on behind the scenes. You will notice that a few of them, however, are absent. Neither Klitschko nor Fury wished to relive their historic fight, the former champion never quite coming to terms with the fact he didn’t get the opportunity for a rematch he was promised and the current heavyweight title-holder wounded by a perceived lack of respect from Klitschko for what he has gone on to achieve. Peter Fury also declined the invitation to partake, insisting he is “done with the whole saga”.

“All I can say is that some try to rewrite history. What me and Mick (Hennessy) did was to go to war against so much politics and so many back-stabbers. But we did it and never got one per cent appreciated, only the opposite. I just want to put it all behind me.”

For good or for bad, November 28, 2015, is a date that will live long in the memories of all those who were inside the Esprit Arena that night. Here’s how they recall it playing out…

The build-up

Mick Hennessy (Fury’s promoter): “It was a heavy-duty year for myself and Peter Fury. The negotiations from start to finish were just on another scale. During those last eight or nine months before the fight, me and Peter would be on the phone until 3am most nights, strategising and figuring out how to get around various problems. There were hundreds of those calls.

“The Klitschkos had a British lawyer, American lawyers, German lawyers and on top of all that, Shelly Finkel and Bernd Boente (Klitschko’s co-managers); both very experienced, elite operators. So it was a heavy game of chess for a long time with me, Peter, my business partner Ali and our legal team against all of those guys just to try and get the fight made.

“Then in the July we had the purse bid (where promoters submit bids for how much they’re willing to pay in purses and the highest bidder wins the right to put on the fight). It was set to be at the WBA headquarters in Panama so we flew someone over there to put down a huge bid for the fight. But a few minutes before the envelopes were supposed to be opened, we agreed a last-ditch deal with Klitschko’s promoter (K2 Promotions) and it got cancelled. It was crazy.

“But the benefit of coming to a private negotiation was the fact that in a purse bid situation, if you lose it then you’ve got no rights whatsoever. You’ve just got to turn up with your team and your gum shield and fight. So it was always in our interest to do a deal.”

Tom Loeffler (Klitschko’s promoter): “The interesting thing about Fury was the connection he’d had with Emanuel Steward (Klitschko’s former trainer who passed away in October 2012). When Fury was just starting his career, Emanuel brought him into Wladimir’s training camp. He wasn’t a sparring partner, it was more that Emanuel wanted to spend more time with him and show him how the world heavyweight champion trained — the discipline and structure of the camp. Emanuel took Fury under his wing and was guiding him. Then all these years later, he wound up fighting Wladimir.

“One thing you have to give to Fury is that he’s always been a showman. One of the press conferences before the fight he showed up dressed in a Batman suit. And it was clear throughout the build-up that he was never intimidated by Wladimir. A lot of fighters come to Germany, they see the crowds and Vitali (Klitschko’s brother, a three-time world heavyweight champion) is always there. But never once did I see any intimidation from Fury and I think that was a big part of his confidence going into the fight.”

Remember this, making history turning up as batman, pic.twitter.com/8RILXiFK0X

— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) February 5, 2016

Tony Weeks (the referee): “I got the call at the last minute to ask if I was available to do the fight. Of course, I was excited and honoured to be assigned to it. I had the opportunity to referee two of Klitschko’s fights before that fight so it was a great honour.

“But it was my first time officiating a Fury fight. Actually, it was my first time seeing him (in-person).

“I don’t pay particular attention to a lot of the build-up ahead of a fight so I missed the Batman stunt. The only reason I may look at some of it is just to see what’s going on; is there any hostility between the two camps or fighters? Things of that nature. And I obviously study the fighters themselves and see how they fight: are they clean fighters? What are some of the tactics they use in a fight? Just so that I can be aware of what might happen in the ring.

“When I did start watching clips of Fury, I was particularly amazed at the ability he had to move very quickly and the technique that he had. For a man his size, he was really light on his feet.”

Martin Rogers (journalist, covering the fight for USA Today): “It wasn’t a fight that we would normally send a journalist for but it happened thanks to a combination of things. The big terrorist attack in Paris had taken place a few weeks earlier and there was talk that Brussels was the next target — just 35 miles from where the Davis Cup final (between Great Britain and Belgium) was set to happen on the same weekend as the Klitschko fight.

“I called my desk and said, ‘There’s this crazy story going on in Europe and tennis is part of it. Also, there’s a heavyweight title fight a few hours away in Dusseldorf the same weekend’. They said ‘Yes, go do it’. So I drove into Dusseldorf on the Saturday afternoon, a few hours before the fight.

“I did write a preview piece, though. Fury wasn’t yet on the radar of the wider US sporting public but I was aware that he had said some pretty incendiary stuff in an interview (with the Mail on Sunday, where Fury appeared to suggest the growing acceptance of homosexuality was a sign that the end of the world was approaching, though the fighter later claimed he was misquoted) in the lead up so that was what we focused on. Mental health was becoming a major topic in sports at the time in the US and there was this question of: Is this guy genuinely a bad guy or is he just a guy who really needs help?

“Though USA Today didn’t go huge on the story they gave it a position of prominence on a busy weekend, so it showed that there was some level of intrigue with Fury at least. But in terms of the actual fight, it was almost like the forgotten part of my trip. Certainly, everyone in the US thought that Klitschko was going to win.”

Johnathon Banks (Klitschko’s trainer): “It was a normal build-up for a heavyweight championship fight, outside of the funny antics that Tyson was trying to do. I’d known him for a long time — we sparred in the Kronk Gym when Emanuel (Steward) brought him to Detroit and we spent time together during one of Wladimir’s training camps.

“He was always the same guy he is now. I told people then, ‘Listen, he’s a super nice guy, he’s not a mean guy but if he gives you a weed and tells you it’s roses and you believe it’s roses, then that’s your fault’. Wladimir always knew Fury was a tough opponent and a very worthy one.

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, he (Fury) got to him’. I disagree, he didn’t get to him at all. What it was, was that circumstances changed and another fighter emerged.”

The gloves

It emerged early in the week that there was a disagreement between the two camps over Fury’s gloves. The contract stipulated that both fighters would have to wear Paffen Sport gloves and the Klitschko camp sent a pair to Fury to train in before the fight. Fury complained that the first pair he was sent had “huge thumbs, which were terrible for my style of punching — as soon as I tried them I almost dislocated my thumb”. A replacement pair was sent but when Fury arrived in Germany, he was told that a fight-day pair might not arrive in time for the rules meeting where they have to be checked and sanctioned by the opposing team. Fury and his team threatened to pull out of the fight if the right gloves were not sourced in time.

Mick Hennessy: “It was a serious game of chess. We had to play games with them to get what we wanted. The only chance we had really was to take it public. I said in the press conference that we were happy to wear the Paffen gloves but they had to fit. It was a health and safety issue — no one wanted Tyson’s thumb going in the first round and him having to pull out.

“There were a lot of big guns sitting in that rules meeting. (Joint managers) Bernd Boente and Shelly Finkel headed things up for the Klitschkos — two very experienced fight people, one from Europe and one from America. And they’re both very good at playing chess. Shelly is notorious for it. Then it was me and Peter.

“We always felt as if we were up against a giant. We were outgunned in every department. We had one set of lawyers, they had three sets. We were prepared though — our due diligence didn’t start that week, it started months and months before we got out there.

“The atmosphere in that room was very aggressive because everyone was fighting their cause. We just had to stand our ground to get a level playing field and make sure that our fighter had confidence going into the fight. We came out of there feeling it was a victory for us because we were happy with the outcome. We weren’t walking into a situation that we didn’t like.”

Tom Loeffler: “As much as they complained about the gloves, he liked them so much that, in the end, he kept fighting in Paffen Sport gloves. He used them in the Deontay Wilder rematch. So it got resolved during fight week and he chose to continue fighting in those gloves and has had a lot of success. I’m not sure how much of it was just to aggravate Wlad but that didn’t get to him. There was a bigger issue as far as the ring was concerned and that was actually on fight day…”

The ring canvas

Mick Hennessy: “We were half expecting something like this to come up, so me and Peter agreed that he’d go to the arena on the morning of fight day with Tyson. You like the fighter to get in the ring and test the canvas out to make sure they’re comfortable. Usually, when you do that, you’re not thinking about the density of the foam, you’re thinking: ‘Are the ropes nice and tight?’ ‘Is the ring the right size that we agreed in the contract?’

“Lo and behold, I got the phone call from Peter straight away. He said, ‘This is like a foam pillow’. I went straight over there and was even more shocked when I got there. The only thing I can compare it to is a Tempur mattress. I’m quite heavy and I was sinking into it. I was gobsmacked. I didn’t think anyone would have the gall to try and get this past us.

“That’s when the arguments started. There were a lot of people around ringside, puffing their chests out and making out as if they were doing something, but all they were doing was making matters worse. Me and Peter took ourselves into a quiet corner and I said: ‘There is only one way that we can force them to do the right thing and that’s the health and safety terms’. Vitali had fought Odlanier Solis in Germany in 2011 and Solis had done his knee. I asked him: ‘Was that the same canvas? Do the millions of fans around the world want an accident because of this canvas or do they want a fight?’

“I was trying to incorporate everyone I could into it. John Rees, who was head of the British Board of Boxing Control at the time, and all the people from Sky Sports who were around and they all agreed with me that it wasn’t quite right.”

Tom Loffler: “Wladimir during that whole time was actually sleeping. I was down at ringside with our attorney and we were trying to deal with the situation. But Wladimir was the only one who could really make the decision and he was asleep. Vitali came down to ringside to speak to Mick Hennessy and we were trying to figure out a solution. The challenge was that Wladimir trained on that particular ring padding throughout his entire camp. Now to change it all of a sudden was going to be a challenge.

“I usually go to the training camps the week before fight week to make sure everything is fine with the sparring partners and to see how Wlad and his team are but that was one where ironically I wasn’t able to go. So I hadn’t seen the type of surface he had been training on — otherwise, we could have potentially avoided some of that situation.”

Mick Hennessy: “We told them that unless the canvas was restructured, we would walk, on grounds of health and safety. If Klitschko had been training on that for eight weeks and got used to it, that’s one thing, but to put a fighter who doesn’t train in those conditions where it can roll your ankle or twist your knee was wrong.

“I was arguing with Vitali and had all these big guns threatening to ‘sue me for the next 20 years’ but we didn’t care. Peter and I were prepared to go through brick walls for our man that day. I said, ‘I don’t care if you sue me for the next 50 years. We’re walking away — this fight’s not happening’.

“I just felt this is where we have to make our stand because this is the first hurdle where things are going to go against us; this is one of their weapons. I said to the German commissioner at ringside, ‘You need to get out of the Klitschkos’ pocket and stop being a cheerleader’ and I think that went out on camera around the world. None of them liked that. I just kept reiterating the fact that all we wanted was a level playing field.

“In the end, I think it was Vitali who relented. He was sick of arguing with me: ‘That’s what you want?’ he said. ‘You want everything your own way. We don’t want you to have any excuses, we give it to you’. By that time it must have been about 4.30pm so we were cutting it pretty fine.”

Mick Hennessy acted as Fury’s promoter for seven years (Photo: Nick Ansell/PA Images via Getty Images)

Tom Loeffler: “It got resolved a very short time before the live TV coverage was supposed to start. Even RTL, the host broadcaster, didn’t know if there was enough time to change it before the first fight because you have to take off the entire canvas, the layers of the padding underneath the mat and everything is held down by rope loops that go along every edge of the ring. It’s a couple of hours’ process, so they were very concerned about the live programme being delayed.”

Johnathon Banks: “I never cared about all the threats to call the fight off. This is my view when it comes to going for the title: if you’re Side A and Side B does not comply, we don’t care if the fight is called off because Side A still walks away with the title. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about, leaving with the title.

“But not everybody felt that way. The business side of some of the people from Germany didn’t, so it caused the changes to come that made no sense. The circumstances that Side A set up weren’t the same circumstances that Side A fought in and for me, that was the major issue with the whole fight.

“It wasn’t illegal and that was my whole thing: if it’s not illegal, I don’t give a fuck who doesn’t like it. Am I right or am I wrong? It should have stayed the way it was but it didn’t. And when you have a rhythm fighter who’s been fighting on a certain rhythm for nine weeks and then you change the rhythm…Wladimir’s most active round was the 12th round, when he finally got his rhythm. That’s the bottom line.”

Mick Hennessy: “The whole thing was so intense that I completely forgot my own son – who was 16 at the time – was fighting that afternoon back in England. It was a big day for him — he was in the national semi-finals but I’d been at ringside for so long that I forgot and my phone battery had completely died.

“By the time I got back to my room and put it on charge, all these messages started to flicker up and there was one from my son’s amateur trainer Lee Wilkins: ‘We’ve taken care of business our end Mick, now it’s your turn’. I don’t know why but it was very emotional for me. The tears just rolled down my cheeks.

“I got on the phone and they were all celebrating. I took it as a good omen: that’s one down. We’re going to get our just desserts tonight.”

Johnathon Banks: “You see things unfolding and you wish you could stop them because you know what the outcome is going to be. But you’re not in a position to do anything because the people in a powerful position already made the decision.

“At that point, there’s a domino effect. When I saw that Side B was treating themselves like Side A, then everyone else started treating Side B like Side A. I said, ‘You know what, this can’t turn out in our favour. It’s impossible’. There’s a reason why Side A stays Side A, because Side A controls the narrative. And my feeling is that Fury was smart enough to say, ‘You know what, if I throw a wrench inside their plans to control the narrative, I may be able to take the win’.”

The fight

Martin Rogers: “It was an amazing arena — super futuristic. It doesn’t look that fancy on the outside but inside it was extraordinary. It felt a bit like a very upscale German party where the trendy and wealthy of German society were going for the evening, really more to be seen and hang out with other cool people because they all knew what the result was going to be.

“Of course, in the half-hour before the main event, the atmosphere built like it does for most major fights but there certainly wasn’t this great expectation that this is going to be a thrilling fight and we don’t know which way it’s going to go. It didn’t feel in the balance.”

(Photo: Christof Koepsel/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Mick Hennessy: “We all went to the venue together. Hughie (Fury, Tyson’s cousin) was initially supposed to fight on the undercard but they couldn’t get him an opponent so it didn’t matter that we got there a little later, for when Tyson was boxing.

“Rod Stewart was playing that night but I didn’t even see him; we were straight into the dressing room. There was a definite tension in the air because you’re looking to be tripped up every step of the way — looking for obstacles to be put in your way. For mind games. So we were having to stay super alert but at the same time, Tyson is a very relaxed person. The people in the dressing room were probably more tense than him. He had that way of making everyone relaxed — he puts on music and gets everyone into it.”

Tom Loeffler: “After the ring canvas there was another bit of controversy over Wladimir’s hand wrapping. Someone who wasn’t on the list of people approved to come into his locker room to watch his hands being wrapped was sent back and his team didn’t want to wait, so they started wrapping (with no one from the Fury camp present). Then, by the time someone from the other side did come in, they wanted him to re-wrap his hands.

“Wladimir is very structured in his approach to everything. The whole camp, fight week, fight day… everything is organised, punctual. So between the ring mat and the hand wrapping, it really seemed to throw off the structure he’s used to. I can’t really use that as an excuse, although I do think the ring mat made a big difference. Training on one type of surface then fighting on another. Those things all seemed to add up.”

Martin Rogers: “Once the fight started, it got real quiet in the arena. It was almost a little bit of: am I actually seeing what I think I’m seeing here? Klitschko looks really bad and Fury looks really good. Even more so, he’s doing an amazing job of making Klitschko look bad. For a long time, people were like: ‘When is Klitschko going to wake up here?’”

Tony Weeks: “I had refereed Klitschko’s fights before so I knew the kind of style he had and what kind of fighter he was but I noticed that it seemed like he couldn’t pull the trigger for some reason. He seemed a little hesitant at first. I don’t know if it was Fury’s mobility, movement and boxing style — even I was surprised by how agile and mobile Fury was. As a referee, you monitor those things in terms of looking to see whether a fighter is able to defend himself or whether a fighter is able to stay and be competitive in the fight. But I did notice that.

“I also noticed the crowd. It was my first time refereeing a fight with that many people there and the atmosphere was really intense and electrifying.”

Johnathon Banks: “Nothing surprised me in the fight because if you can’t get your rhythm, how can you let your hands go?

“Between the rounds, I was saying the same thing to him over and over again: ‘These titles are staying here, you do know that right? He’s taking the titles right now, so you have to let your hands go’.

“A lot of people say I was too laid back or this and that. I don’t care because I’m going to be me, regardless. The reason I was in that position in the first place is that I was picked for being me. So why change from what got me there to be someone totally different? I’m not going to do that.”

Tom Loeffler: “Usually with Wladimir’s boxing style — his jab and punching power — you’re used to seeing him either dominating his opponents or at least building a lead as it gets to the later rounds. This was a situation where Fury with his speed, timing and awkward style just seemed to be edging the rounds and building up a lead.

“It was very competitive but I would say it was more of a tactical chess match than a brawl. Fury’s advantage was boxing from the outside with his height rather than engage Wladimir but we were hoping he would slow down to the point where Wladimir could start taking control towards the end of the fight.

“During the 12 rounds, you could gradually see the chances for Wlad were gradually going down. I still always had confidence that he would pull something off towards the end of the fight, but it didn’t happen that way.”

Mick Hennessy: “I was confident, full stop. Peter is a perfectionist — he got him in incredible shape and they had the right tactics. There was a team talk before Tyson walked out and I thought, ‘This is just what he needs to beat Klitschko’. I didn’t have any doubts.

“As the rounds went on, it was just a masterclass. Everything that I expected, he carried out. During 12 rounds of that, you go through every emotion in the book. I was elated. I was on cloud nine. I was looking at a masterclass against a champion who dominated the division for 11 years. In his backyard.

“I knew Tyson would beat him wide on points, at the worst, but the only thing that concerned me was that even with a wide score, the judges might go against us. I knew that either he had to stop him or it had to be a shutout. Other than that, I knew he’d win the fight if we got a fair crack of the whip.”

Martin Rogers: “The deeper into the fight it got, you were like, ‘Wow, unless I’m totally misreading this, Klitschko needs a knockout and doesn’t in any way look like he’s capable of one’. And the crowd started to really pick up on that part of it around midway through. Then towards the end, it was like, ‘Huh, this is actually going to happen’.

“But then there’s also the thought of, it looks to me like Fury is winning almost every round but we’re in Germany… am I seeing what the judges are going to see?”

Who said u have to attack with your hands up? pic.twitter.com/D6wD2QqHwS

— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) April 22, 2017

Tony Weeks: “It was pretty much a clean fight. There were just a few times I had to warn Fury about hitting behind the head, then finally I had to take a point away for that. But it was relatively clean. The only problems I had were just in terms of being in there with two big guys. Pulling them apart every time can wear and tear on you.

“I don’t really concentrate on who’s winning, so at the final bell, I made no assumptions. Of course, sometimes you can be in a fight where it’s obvious that one fighter is being outclassed and out-punched. But then, boxing has had very memorable decisions before.”

The result

Tom Loeffler: “I didn’t have a piece of paper scoring the rounds. It was very competitive and even at the final bell, you’re never quite sure how the scores are going to turn out. In Gennadiy Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez, I thought Golovkin clearly won the first fight and somehow one judge gave Canelo 10 rounds, which no one could figure out. So you’re never quite sure how the scoring’s going to go, especially fighting in Wlad’s ‘home country’.

“It was just one of those fights where you’re not sure. There were no knockdowns so you couldn’t say one guy dominated the other it was just in general, the sense was that Fury had gotten the better of Wladimir in a few more rounds so no one really argued the decision when it came.”

Mick Hennessy: “When the final bell rang, I was confident. I thought it was that wide. And that after everything we’d been through that week and everything we’d said to our commission, the local commission and governing bodies that were there about a level playing field, I thought it’s got to go our way. When it did, the tears just came. It was surreal.

“I know things are different now but Tyson was our boy, you know? I’d signed him (from the amateurs) and one of the big things I still wanted to do in the game was to take a fighter from the amateurs to become heavyweight champion of the world.

“It’s one thing doing it with Anthony Joshua. I’m a big fan of what he’s done but when you come through with Olympic gold, you’ve got the GB team backing you, the country backing you and a broadcaster behind you 100 per cent it’s all laid out for you. But with Tyson that wasn’t the case.

“There were obstacles thrown at us every step of the way. A lot of people trying to put spanners in the works and a lot of people who didn’t believe in him. The number of times I had to sit in front of broadcasters like a double-glazing salesman telling them how good this kid was going to be, and the knockbacks I got with him, from TV to sponsorship to gates — people weren’t turning up.

“And now, Hennessy Sports, Tyson and Peter — we all went up against one of the biggest players in world sport, we all believed in each other and we captured the pinnacle in sport. Getting there had been a long, hard road. That’s why it was such an emotionally charged night for me.”

Johnathon Banks: “It’s just my opinion but if that had been any other long-reigning champion, in any other country, that fight either would have been called a draw or we would have still been champion because neither fighter beat the other one up. It’s not like one fighter dominated or beat the crap out of the other fighter.

“But one thing I learned from the late Emanuel Steward is that if you carry anger from one fight to another, you will never get another win. You gotta let it go right there and move on. He taught me to do everything I can to get your fighter to win so that no matter what happens — no matter what the outcome — that’s something you can hang your hat on, that you did everything you could for the fighter.

“But whatever happened that swayed the fight wasn’t in my power to control. I believe 150 per cent that, with the strategy I laid out with Wladimir, if that canvas hadn’t changed, we’d be talking about a totally different story right now. But everything happens for a reason. I’m happy for Tyson and wish him more continued success.”

Tony Weeks: “It was definitely unusual to see Fury grab the microphone and start serenading his wife (with Aerosmith’s classic song I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing). Knowing Tyson as I know him now it wouldn’t have been unusual but at the time it was like wow. I’d never seen that before — he really took over the crowd.

“He definitely made an impression that night. I’ve been in the ring with some of the greatest fighters in the history of boxing and heavyweights especially. When you have one who can represent himself in the ring and outside of the ring, that’s special.”

(Photo: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Tom Loeffler: “The singing in the ring afterwards, to continue being the showman that he is… it certainly created a lot of additional fans for the victory he had that night. While that was going on I was just thinking, ‘It’s a good thing we have a rematch clause so we can see them fighting again, under different conditions where there is no glove controversy, no controversy with the ring, the hand wrapping…’. You just want an even playing field for both sides where the best man wins. It happened to be on that night Fury was the better man.”

Martin Rogers: “I don’t think I was alone in feeling, ‘What a weird way for such a long undefeated streak to end; with a bit of a whimper’. Everyone sort of filtered off into the night, leaving this small group of young and boisterous Fury fans yelling as they were trying to barge their way through the press seats to get to ringside.

“I remember walking past Klitschko’s then-partner Hayden Panettiere at ringside and seeing the tears flowing. But that was almost the only emotion that you saw. There weren’t tears from Klitschko, it was just like the air had gone out of the arena and his whole team just looked stunned.”

The aftermath

Tom Loeffler: “Wladimir had been so dominant for so long that none of us on the team really knew how to take the loss. We went back to the locker room and everyone was pretty quiet. The cutman Stitch Duran tried to make it a bit lighter and say, ‘Look, nobody died, everyone’s healthy, we gotta be happy about what Wladimir’s accomplished’.

“But it was something that nobody on the team really had experienced with Wladimir for such a long time. I was there when he lost to Corrie Sanders and Lamon Brewster but then he went on such a long run with Emanuel Steward that it really transformed his career into such a dominant force in the heavyweight division.”

Mick Hennessy: “The press conference didn’t finish until 3am. People always say, ‘There must have been some party that night’. I can tell you now, the only thing me, Peter and Tyson were ready for walking back from there was bed. Physically, mentally — every type of exhaustion you could name, we were. We were that drained from what we’d been through.

“Back at the hotel, there was a bit of celebration and dancing in the hallway and a few pictures with the belts but then we just collapsed.

“Looking back, I’m very proud of what me, Peter and his team, Ali and all at Hennessy Sports achieved. We did something that none of the big corporate promoters could manage in 11 years and broke the Klitschko dominance. We won battle after battle over a long period of time to give our fighter every chance of success on the night, and it paid off.”

Martin Rogers: “Instead of driving back to Brussels for the Davis Cup final, I stayed in Dusseldorf that night. I was pretty much the only American there, so Fury’s team had promised us an interview with him the next day.

“I spoke to his wife Paris and arranged to meet them at their hotel the next morning before they left for the ferry terminal in Belgium. But when I got there, they were all flustered because they were running late for the ferry. They’d taken the ferry from Hull to Belgium and driven from there, and so 12 hours after Fury’s greatest triumph, they were driving back.

“We arranged to meet instead at the ferry terminal in Zeebrugge and do the interview there. But when I arrived and messaged Paris she called me in a mad panic: ‘Oh my god, we’ve just arrived and realised we’ve fucked up and got the wrong ferry terminal’.

“It turned out they had arrived into Zeebrugge but were going out of Ostend. By the time they got to the right place, there would be no time to talk, so they raced off and I was left with no interview after all. It was still a pretty wild story though — the champion with multimillion-dollar paydays in his future getting involved in this ridiculous ferry snafu. That was the last involvement I had with Fury for several years. It was cool to be there, just a weird way for his title reign to start.”

Tom Loeffler: “Wladimir definitely wanted the rematch and we did have a rematch clause in the contract. But for various reasons, we weren’t able to put the rematch together, which Wlad was very frustrated about — he was waiting over a year and a half to get that fight.

“Even though we thought Wladimir should beat him in the rematch, five years on, you can see Fury’s win wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t a lucky punch or bad scoring that took the titles, so you have to give him respect.

“I know he went through some challenging times after that victory, so we’re happy to see he’s in a much better place again and is considered the best heavyweight in the world by some. In that sense, it wasn’t like Wladimir lost to a C-class opponent. If someone is going to beat Wlad, then you kind of root for them to continue to have success.

“These days, Wladimir has several business interests in Ukraine and just came out with a book, which was on the bestseller list in Germany. But every time I see him, he’s in tremendous shape, so I still think that at some point, with the right timing or right opponent, he would consider coming back — although he’s never said that to any of us.

“I just think he’s one of those guys who, because of his lifestyle, could still compete at the highest level of the sport. And I know he always wanted the rematch with Fury, so you never know how everything plays out…”

(Top image by Tom Slator for The Athletic. Pictures: Getty Images)