By Scott Gilfoid: Right now heavyweight prospect Anthony Joshua (4-0, 4 KO’s) is getting most of the attention in the UK as far as heavyweight prospects go. Heavyweight Hughie Fury (12-0, 7 KO’s) has become the forgotten man for a lot of fans, because of Hughie having to work hard to defeat little known 3rd tier heavyweights that he should be knocking out in 1 or 2 rounds. Instead, Hughie has had to go the full distance in 2 out of his last four fights in beating the likes of Dorian Darch and Hrvoje Kisicek.
In contrast, the 6’6″ Joshua stopped Darch in the 2nd round earlier this month on February 1st, and before that, Joshua stopped Kisicek in the 2nd round last December. Hughie had to go the full 6 rounds with both of those guys, and I must say he didn’t exactly shine in either bout. I thought he looked pretty unspectacular. But then again, I wasn’t impressed with how the flat-footed, an arguably over-muscled Joshua looked against those guys either. It’s one of those things where you pick out which fighter stunk a little less than the other one.
“Where people want to see the knockouts and all that I’m going round getting all the experience and the fact of it all is I’m only 19-years-old,” Hughie said to Livefight. “This is what people forget. How old is Anthony Joshua>? 24? He’s a year younger than Tyson. I’m only 19, and I’m learning my job properly.”
My, doesn’t Hughie sound like the one with a major chip on his shoulder. He shouldn’t let his trips get to him, because it’s fine that he’s not able to KO 3rd tier opposition. The time to worry for Hughie is in 3-5 years if he still hasn’t developed his punching power, and he’s forced to go 10-12 rounds each time he fights. If that’s the case then I don’t see Hughie going anywhere in the heavyweight division. He’s not good enough defensively to avoid taking head shots, and if he has to go the full distance each time he fights to win, he’s going to struggle when he faces guys with major power like Deontay Wilder.
Can you picture what Deontay would do to Hughie if he had 12 rounds to land his major power shots without worry about getting hit with anything in return due to his lack of power. Hughie’s is in a situation where if he doesn’t develop his power at some point, then his career will be nowhere at all. I mean, he’ll get to a point where he hits the ceiling in terms of competition, and if he tries to go beyond that, he’ll get smacked down and put in his place.
Hughie faces journeyman Matthew Greer (16-11, 13 KO’s) this Saturday night on the undercard of the Dereck Chisora vs. Kevin Johnson card at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.
Anthony Joshua faces Hector Alfredo Avila (22-15-1, 14 KO’s) on March 1st on the undercard of the Ricky Burns vs. Terence Crawford fight at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Joshua should have no problems with Avila because he’s short, flabby, slow and weak. Joshua’s problems will be when he faces guys with speed and/or power. If the flat-footed Joshua can’t get that heavyweight out, he’ll likely gas out from all that useless muscle he’s carrying around and then end up getting knocked out.
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