By Scott Gilfoid: We’re only six days away before heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (14-0, 8 KOs) takes a gigantic risk next Saturday, February 21st in his 10 round fight against Andriy Rudenko (24-1, 16 KOs) at the Salle des Étoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
It’s a very strange and highly risky match-up for the 6’6” Hughie, given that he’s coming off of a long illness that has kept him out of the ring for many months since May of last year when he struggled to beat Danny Hughes.
Hughie, 20, figures that if he beats a decent quality fighter like Rudenko, then he’ll catch the boxing public’s imagination and make news. This is obviously true, but on the flipside Hughie could also fail miserably and wind up getting knocked out by the 31-year-old Rudenko in this fight.
You have to remember that Hughie still hasn’t developed his man strength yet, and he doesn’t have the kind of punching power that you see from the elite of the division.
Whether Hughie will ever develop into a puncher later on down the road is anyone’s guess. A good weight program might help Hughie develop some punching power, but then again it might prove to be fruitless as well. Some guys just never to develop power even after they’ve put on a lot of muscle. Hughie could very well be one of those fighters.
“I want the chance to show people what I’m capable of doing, and the only way I can do that is by fighting good opponents,” Hughie said via Maxboxing.com. “Nobody cares if you look good beating up a journeyman over four or six rounds. There’s no need for warm-ups if I’m training with quality heavyweights on a regular basis. There’s no point having a full camp for a six-rounder.”
Six rounder? The last time I checked, Hughie’s fight against Rudenko was supposed to have been a 10 round fight. Did they change the fight to 6 rounds? Well, if they did, I can’t say I’m the least bit surprised.
When I noticed that Hughie’s trainer Peter Fury was talking about Hughie using movement in the Rudenko fight, I thought to myself that there was little chance that Hughie could move constantly for more than six rounds without him gassing out. But if the fight is only going to be six rounds instead of ten rounds, then that explains the talk of Hughie moving a lot.
Hughie has sparred with Rudenko in the past, which is perhaps why he feels confident enough to taking the fight. I can’t imagine Hughie and his management taking the fight against Rudenko if they weren’t aware of him and what he brings to the table in this fight. However, even if they are familiar with him, it’s still a fight in which Hughie is going to take a lot of punishment in the 6 or 10 rounds.
Hughie looked pretty beat up in some of his fights against the 3rd tier opposition he’s been matched against. Rudenko may not be the greatest heavyweight in the division, but he’s a clear step up from the 3rd tier heavyweight opposition that Hughie has been facing during his career.
“He’s definitely a step-up in class for me and is no knock over. He went the distance with Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne in a close fight some people felt he won,” Hughie said.
Rudenko lost his fight against Browne by a close 12 round unanimous decision in August of 2014. I had Browne winning that fight, but he definitely didn’t look good after he gassed out in the second half of the fight.
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