Peter Fury says Hughie Fury was flat against Kassi

By Boxing News - 05/01/2016 - Comments

hughie933By Scott Gilfoid: Trainer Peter Fury appears to be making excuses for his fighter heavyweight Hughie Fury (20-0, 10 KOs) not looking good last Saturday night in his fight against Fred Kassi (18-5-1, 10 KOs) last Saturday night at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK. Hughie was having all he could handle from the 36-year-old Kassi until the fight was halted in the 7th round due to the 21-year-old Hughie suffering a cut over his left eye from a head clash in the 6th.

Peter says Hughie was flat in the fight due to Kassi’s awkward style. Peter says that Kassi wasn’t there for Hughie to hit, so that led to frustration on his part. However, in watching the fight, it looked like Hughie went to pieces mentally in the 6th round after getting pursued all over the ring by the shorter Kassi and nailed with some huge headshots.

It wasn’t because Hughie couldn’t get to Kassi that appeared frustrating for the young Hughie. It looked more like the case of Hughie running and panicking in a major way from the pressure that Kassi was putting on him. The head-butt in the 6th round that opened a cut above Hughie’s left eye was very convenient for the young 21-year-old, because it led to the fight going to the cards in the next round and possibly saving him from getting knocked out. I’m just saying. It looked to me like Hughie was broken mentally by Kassi’s pressure and the crowd booing. The crowd was booing Hughie, not Kassi, because he was running around the ring like a chicken with it’s head cut off trying to escape the pressure of Kassi.

“Fred Kassi is horrible, isn’t he?” Peter Fury said to IFL TV. “He’s just not available. He got the win. He won every round, but this is what we’ve got to get him. This type of awkward opponents to work him out, because although he was winning, he was struggling to get his shots off. He [Kassi] was making him look bad. I was telling him to step it up in the corner, because he wasn’t there to be hit. So it was a good learning fight for him. He did look pretty flat. I wanted to see it go a lot longer and let him get in a fight, because a few other fighters he had, it was a breeze for him. He was warming up. Kassi was hitting him and he was hitting him back. He said he felt flat in the corner as well, but I put that down to frustration because Kassi is not there to be hit. He’s awkward. He was just a mess. He’s a journeyman, Kassi. He’s nothing special. He’s just a complete messer of a guy that we were up against,” said Peter.

Oh my, it is interesting how Peter is dumping on Kassi for him doing such a great job against Hughie. Instead of talking being horrible and a journeyman to boot, Peter should be focusing his attention on Hughie, because he was the one looking weak, tired and frustrated. The reason why Hughie was so flat in the fight was because he was running so much to escape the pressure that Kassi was putting on him.

If Hughie had just stood his ground and thrown some straight shots in a normal manner and not all those punches thrown from the hip, he wouldn’t have gotten so tired. He also wouldn’t have been booed like mad by the crowd. I mean, if Hughie wants to do something with his career and create a fan base, then he’s got to be able to stand his ground and throw some overhand power shots with conviction instead of all those shots thrown at hip level.

That was just awful to watch. I don’t know why Hughie doesn’t seem able to throw overhand shots like normal fighters do, because he’s never going to be able to generate punching power with the way he throws his shots. Those are pawing/slapping shots that Hughie typically throws in his fights.

YouTube video

“A win’s a win, but it didn’t impress me. He needs to do a hell of a lot more, and this is why he needs decent level opposition that is durable,” said Peter Fury. “With Kassi, he was never in danger of losing, but he was in a fight. These are the fights we need to get for Hughie, because these are the fights that he needs to work out. He’s 21 and he’s already had a lot of different styles. Kassi is a switch hitter, causing him problems. Not being able to work it out led to frustration. He was doing a few good things right, but also a lot wrong as well. It was a great learning fight. It’s best to learn now than if he’s in a world title, and that’s happening. He’s 21. What’s the rush with him? I don’t know where that puts him in the world. I think it puts him in the top 10. So he’s got a world ranking, but I want to see a lot more from him. He’s got a lot more he can do. But again, there’s nothing else you’re going to do with Kassi, I’m afraid. He’s that type of opponent you’re going to look bad. He’s got to take stock from that and learn from it. He’ll look to get out in July, and he’ll look to improve his performance,” said Peter Fury.

I hate to be the one to break this to Peter, but Hughie WAS in danger of losing to Kassi. Hughie was dog tired in the 7th round, taking big head shots, and coming apart at the seams from the pressure he was under. If it wasn’t for the referee Terry O’Conner stopping the action in the 7th to take Hughie over to the ringside doctor to have him examine his cut, I think Hughie would have been knocked out by Kassi. There were five rounds left in the fight at that point, and Hughie was badly gassed from the pace of the fight and he looked like he was not going to be able to go much longer without getting knocked out. O’Connor did Hughie a huge break in stopping the action where he did because it sure looked like he was on his way to getting knocked out.