Tyson Fury beats Wladimir Klitschko to become world champion

Britain's Tyson Fury pulled off one of the great boxing upsets as he outpointed Wladimir Klitschko to become heavyweight champion of the world.

It was a dour and often messy fight but Fury, courtesy of his superior boxing skills, fully deserved to be awarded a unanimous decision.

Klitschko, whose nine-year reign as champion was brought to an end, simply could not work the challenger out and did not do enough to win.

Fury, who was awarded the fight 115-112, 115-112, 116-111 on the judges' scorecards, is now the WBA, IBF and WBO champion.

The 27-year-old Manchester fighter is only Britain's fifth bona fide heavyweight world champion after Bob Fitzsimmons, Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and David Haye.

Fun and games pay off for Fury

"You're a great champion Wlad, thanks very much for having me," said Fury, moments after his win was announced in Dusseldorf.

The self-styled 'Gypsy King' had taunted his opponent ahead of the fight and even dressed as Batman at one news conference.

"It was all fun and games in the build-up, I just wanted to be confident, young and brash," said Fury, who had complained about the thickness of the foam under the ring canvas before the bout.

To the delight of British fans in the 50,000-capacity Esprit Arena, he burst into a rendition of Aerosmith's hit ballad I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, dedicating it to his wife and his fans in Ireland, the UK, the United States and Germany.

Listen: Fury sings after victory

Confounding the doubters

Klitschko had not been beaten since 2004 and his second reign as champion included 19 successful defences.

This represented a big step up in class for Fury, whose biggest previous win was against fellow Briton Dereck Chisora (twice).

After a build-up which included Fury impersonating Bette Midler at a public workout, few expected the Englishman to make good on his promises and dethrone Klitschko.

But Fury's mobility and head movement, as well as his ability to switch between orthodox and southpaw, added up to a puzzle the 39-year-old champion simply could not work out.