By Scott Gilfoid: Heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (11-0, 6 KO’s) will be taking another incredibly small step forward with his career this Friday night as he continues to chase Mike Tyson’s record to try and become the youngest heavyweight title holder ever when he faces David Gegeshidze (10-4-1, 2 KO’s) in a scheduled 6 round bout at the City Academy Sports Centre, Bristol, Avon, United Kingdom. I’m starting to worry that the 19-year-od Fury won’t be able to break Tyson’s record because Tyson was 20-years-old when he beat WBC heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick in 1986 to capture the WBC title.
If you look at the kinds of opposition that the 6’6″ Hughie is fighting now, I just don’t see him being able to make the leap from facing the likes of the 32-year-old Gegeshidze and Hrvoje Kisicek (5-6, 1 KO’s) to suddenly fighting for and capturing a world title within a year. I mean, maybe I’m not seeing something here in terms of the match-making. Maybe Hughie will be pushed up against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko next year so that Hughie can whip him and capture all of his world titles, but I just don’t see any movement being made to put Hughie in with any live bodies that you’d like to see if he was really going to be making a serious attempt at breaking Mike Tyson’s record.
I think it’s for the best that Hughie not be put in with any better opposition in the next year because he isn’t shining against the god awful opposition he’s being put in with now. If he can’t even look good against guys with records like Moses Matovu (4-32-4), then what kind of messages does that give you about Hughie being put in with Wladimir Klitschko for his world titles by next year?
I’d like to see how Hughie would do if he were put in a heavyweight title eliminator bout against someone like Deontay Wilder or Bermane Stiverne, but I just don’t think he would do well against them right now because he doesn’t have the power to make himself competitive against either of them.
Gegeshidze has won his last three fights against guys with atrocious records. His last three opponents’ records were as follows: 2-7, 6-11 and 4-15. Pretty good, huh? Before that, Gegeshidze had lost four straight against novice opponents with good records but only with a handful of fights under their belts.
Hughie should win easily this Friday if for no other reason because he’s facing another incredibly weak opponent. I don’t think Fury should be rushed into a world title fight in the next year. Instead, I think Fury should go on a long weight program consisting of 4-5 years and then try and step it up when he’s in his mid-20s and hope for the best. If Hughie can’t make it by that point then I would hang up the gloves if I was him and look for another line of work.
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