WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO will “definitely” continue fighting into next year after his October 29 rematch with Tyson Fury, according to his manager Bernd Boente.
Fury outpointed Klitschko last November in a momentous upset to snatch his IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles.
Despite now being 40 and having boxed at the elite level for years, Klitschko is hellbent on avenging the Fury defeat and continuing his career afterwards.
“We are not making any plans for after this fight,” Boente told Boxing News.
“Wladimir will definitely go on and fight next year but we haven’t made any plans regarding opponents or anything, we are 100 per cent focusing on this fight and that’s it, but this will definitely not be his last fight.”
A rematch clause was written into the contracts for their first meeting, and Klitschko exercised this right within days of losing to the unbeaten Brit.
However negotiations were drawn out and the initial date for the rematch ended up being scrapped when Fury suffered an ankle injury while running.
Boente revealed that the contracts for the rematch make no mention of a trilogy fight, which would become a distinct possibility should Klitschko even the score in October.
Last year, prior to his fight with Fury, Wladimir extended his television deal with German broadcasters RTL for another five fights, beginning with his clash against Tyson.
“Regardless of that [TV] deal – he’s not forced to have all of the fights on it – he will fight on,” Boente continued.
“We have the deal in place, but he likes to fight and as long as he puts in a good performance he’ll fight on. He will definitely not fight on for the next five years but he likes to fight, he still feels good and as long as his body is OK and his health, everything is fine. As I said before, we’re not making any plans about future opponents etc, the future is on October 29 in Manchester.”
Despite having come back from defeats earlier in his career to dominate his division, there was speculation over Klitschko’s future in the sport after he lost to underdog Fury. However the towering Ukrainian’s camp for the rematch is in full swing and he intends to remedy what he, and Boente, describe as an “off night.”
As well as the considerable purse they’ll earn from the rematch, the winner of this highly-anticipated return will also be looking at lucrative options in the division – including a potential unification summer showdown with Anthony Joshua, who picked up the IBF title after it was stripped from Fury.
