By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight Hughie Fury (20-0, 10 KOs) is saying he could be the next opponent for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) on February 25. Hughie, 22, says that Wilder wants a fight on the 25th of February next year. Hughie says he wants that fight. Whether it can happen is another thing.
It’s pretty hard to imagine the Deontay vs. Hughie fight taking place. Hughie and his management might want a lot of money for that fight, and I don’t see there being a ton of money. It’s not a pay-per-view worthy fight in the States, and Wilder isn’t a PPV guy – yet.
There was talk of Anthony Joshua fighting Hughie, but the fight couldn’t get made. I see the same thing happening with Joshua vs. Hughie. The won’t get made over money.
Hughie, the cousin of former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, hasn’t fought since last April when he won a 7th round technical decision over Fred Kassi. Hughie looked terrible against Kassi. Hughie gassed out in the 6th, and was taking punishment. If not for Hughie ramming heads with Kassi in the 7th, causing a bad cut over his left eye, I think he would have wound up getting knocked out by the journeyman.
“I’m ready for the big fights. Wilder wants it 25th Feb. I’m happy please make this fight @boxnationtv @MGM_Manchester @HennesseySports.,” said Hughie on his Twitter. “Wilder or winner of Parker-Ruz. They’re my next fights. Don’t care what first. They will hopefully announcing the fight this month.”
I don’t think there would be a ton of money for Hughie in a fight against Wilder. It would depend on how much Hughie hopes to make from the fight. If he’s fine with the less than huge money that’s offered to him, then he can take the fight. I just think that Hughie might be better off continuing to fight fluff opposition until he eventually gets ranked No.1 for a fight against IBF champion Anthony Joshua.
That would make Hughie a lot of money if he fought Joshua. Of course, if Hughie and his trainer think they can beat Deontay, then they should take the fight. I just don’t think Hughie can beat Wilder now or ever. He’s too much of a hit and run type of guy, and Wilder would time him and stop him with a right hand to the head.
I don’t understand why Hughie doesn’t do what normal heavyweight contenders do by taking on some lower level contenders and work himself up in the rankings the proper way. Hughie needs more experience before he takes on a good heavyweight. If you saw Hughie’s last fight against Kassi, you’d know what I’m talking about.
Hughie looked fine in the first four rounds of the fight when he was using a hit and run style to get the better of Kassi. However, when the 6th round rolled around, Hughie got tired and was starting to get worked over by Kassi. By looking at the body language of Hughie, I think the end was near. Hughie looked like he was ready to be knocked out by the 7th or 8th. But then a miracle head-butt occurred in the 7th with Hughie accidentally ramming his head into the head of Kassi.
It opened up a but cut over the left eye of Hughie. Rather than letting Hughie’s corner work on the cut, the referee stopped the action and took Hughie over to the ringside doctor, and the fight was then halted. Like I said, it was a miracle head clash by Hughie, and it probably saved him from getting knocked out. Hughie looked like a Billy Goat the way his head crashed into the head of Kassi. Hughie was so tired at the time, and was taking big shots.
The 6’7” Wilder is coming off right hand and bicep surgery, and it’s still unclear when he’ll be able to be given the green light to fight. Wilder must face the winner of the December 17 fight between Alexander Povetkin and Bermane Stiverne fight.
Whether Wilder can another voluntary defense before he faces the winner of that match is the big question. It would be up to the World Boxing Council. What’s working against Hughie being the next opponent for Wilder is the fact that the American talent has already had four voluntary defenses since winning the title in January 2015. That’s a huge number of voluntary defenses, I must say. If the World Boxing Council allows Wilder to make a 5th straight voluntary defense, then go for it.
It’s nice that Hughie is mentioning Deontay’s name, but I see it as little more than name dropping. I’m sure Deontay would love to take the fight against Hughie Fury, because it would be an easy fight for him due to Hughie having no real punching power to speak of.
A knockout win for Wilder over Hughie might get Tyson Fury off the couch and into the gym so that he can burn off all that fat that he’s put on since his last fight against Wladimir Klitschko over a year ago. Tyson looked really out of shape last Saturday night when he was carrying WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders’ title belt to the ring for his fight against Artur Akavov at the Lagoon Centre in Paisley, Scotland. The kind of weight that Fury has put on will take ages to burn off. Anyway, if Wilder whips Hughie, then I could see Tyson wanting to avenge the loss somehow. Wilder could then fight Tyson Fury to add his scalp to his resume.
Deontay hasn’t fought since last July when he stopped Chris Arreola in the 8th round. Wilder injured his right hand and biceps in that fight. Wilder has had surgery on both problems to repair the problem. Wilder just recently started to use both hands. It still remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to fight on February 25 or not. That’s only a little over 2 months away from now. Anything could happen during training to derail a fight that soon. If I was Hughie, I wouldn’t get too excited right now about a fight against Wilder, because he could very reinjure his hand or biceps while he’s training.