Before Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, the pair sat down for a face-to-face Sky Sports 'Gloves Are Off' programme.
The Brit utilised mind games on the dominant Ukrainian to unsettle him throughout the entire build-up, with this sitdown the perfect opportunity to get under the champion's skin.
During his time as heavyweight king, long-reigning champion Klitschko often recruited the world’s top prospects for sparring.
This was a chance to scope out potential future opponents and get a handle on how he’d deal with them should they ever meet in future.
With Fury though, it appears this process backfired and led to his downfall in Dusseldorf.
The 'Gypsy King' recalled a story: “I’m at his training camp, we’re in the sauna, about ten guys in the sauna.
“And it came down to me and Wlad in the sauna. Do you remember this Wladimir, at all?
“It gets down to him and I’m over the other side. I’ve only had 12 or 13 fights, but still, in my mind I was mentally in a competition with him.
“He can say what he wants, he can deny it, whatever.
LATEST BOXING NEWS
“I was prepared to die in that sauna before I got out. I stayed in for like 40 minutes.”
Klitschko replied: “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.
“I don’t remember exactly that moment, but I believe in the sauna people were walking in naked, so…”
Host Johnny Nelson then asked Fury who left the sauna first, and the ‘Gypsy King’ proudly answered: “He did. He got out first. I thought, ‘Mental victory.'
The champion hit back: “That you built in your own world, that didn’t exist.”
To which the challenger calmly responded: “We both know it did exist.”
Klitschko said once more: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But Fury kept his cool and concluded: “You can say you don’t know what I’m talking about, but I know and you know it did exist.”
I keep reading these disturbing stories about Fury´s recollections of a sauna: 1) Apparently I was in some contest, in his head 🤷🏻♂. 2) How creepy this man keeps having thoughts/dreams of me in a sauna.
— Klitschko (@Klitschko) April 5, 2020Now, in 2020, almost five years on from the defeat, Klitschko has moved to clarify the situation.
He said: "I keep reading these disturbing stories about Fury's recollections of a sauna.
"1) Apparently I was in some contest, in his head. 2) How creepy this man keeps having thoughts/dreams of me in a sauna."
This loss may never sit well with Klitschko, who continues to drop hints of a potential comeback in the coming years with the aim of becoming the oldest heavyweight champion in history.
ncG1vNJzZmiskaG4tLzOq6tnm5%2BifLS8zquraJqfrbavs45vcGpxYmZ8uLjAnaCmoaJiuK2106yaoaOfYsG6v86nZJ%2Btoq56tK3Up5hmq6Skv7p7