By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (16-0, 8 KOs) will be fighting next month against an opponent still to be determined on the undercard of the Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury on October 24th at the ESPRIT Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany. Hughie, 20, is the nephew of Tyson Fury.
Hughie’s opponent likely won’t be anyone dangerous because he’s still being matched up against weak opposition at this point in his career. There’s talk of Hughie eventually fighting 35-year-old “Big” John McDermott in the near future, but it’s unclear whether that fight will take place as soon as October 24th.
McDermott hasn’t fought in two years, so you can imagine the time that would be needed for him to get his conditioning and weight right for a fight against Hughie.
Hughie had a chance to fight for a world title against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder for his September 26th fight, but Hughie and his trainer turned the fight down because they felt there wasn’t enough time to train for the fight. Hughie and trainer Peter Fury wanted an 8 week training camp, and they would have likely ended up with 7 ½ weeks instead.
You have to wonder whether they actually fancied the job. I mean, what heavyweight turns down a title shot and a career high best payday because they’re only going to get 7 ½ weeks of training. It’ll be kind of sad if that winds up as the only chance that Hughie ever gets to fight for a world title. I guess he’ll kicking himself for not having taken the shot.
Wilder instead is facing Johann Duhaupas on September 26th in a fight that will be televised on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC from the Legacy Arena, in Birmingham, Alabama. It would have been a great opportunity for young Hughie to get some badly needed visibility in America. Heck, even if Hughie was obliterated in one round by Deontay, at least he would be seen by millions of Americans in doing so. It would have been some great publicity for Hughie, but he blew it by not agreeing to the fight.
The 6’6” Hughie has been a pro for two years since 2013, and he’s still slowly being pushed up against better opposition with each fight. He’s coming off of a 10 round decision win over 41-year-old George Arias last July. In his fight before that, Hughie defeated Andriy Rudenko by a 10 round decision last February in what was by far the best win of Fury’s career. He basically ran around the ring, jabbing, throwing pot shots, and doing a lot of holding. It was a real negative type of a Mayweather-esque type of performance from young Hughie, but it was kind of the only thing he could do in there. Hughie didn’t have the punching power to stand in front of Rudenko and slug with him for the full 10 rounds. If Hughie had done that, I think it would have ended badly for him.
Hughie needs to really do something to build up his man strength, because he’s arguably even weaker than Tyson Fury when it comes to his punching power. I’m usually against weight training for fighters because it tends to slow them down and not do much in terms of helping their punching power, but in Hughie’s case, I think he needs to hit the weight room in a big way. I think he should devote 3-5 hours a day lifting weights for the next few years, and focus on heavy lifting so he can build up his chest, shoulders and arms. There’s a lack of muscle in those areas.
If Hughie can build up some badly needed muscle then maybe he’ll stop slapping with his punches and be able to actually go after his opponents to try and score knockouts. Hughie needs to be able to stand in the pocket against his opponents without wilting like a skinny vine being bent over by the wind. Hughie doesn’t have the punching power to stand in the pocket right now, which is why I suppose he runs around the ring throwing pot shots every time he fights. It’s got to be a bad feeling for Hughie because he’s basically running for survival when he fights, even against the weak opposition that he’s been fighting.
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