By Scott Gilfoid: 21-year-old heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (16-0, 8 KOs) will be fighting 36-year-old journeyman Nicolai Firtha (21-11-1, 8 KOs) on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko fight next month on October 24th at the ESPRIT Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Hughie’s trainer Peter Fury thinks that the 6’6” Firtha will be a good learning experience for the 6’6” Hughie, because of all the experience that Firtha has going for him against fighters like Deontay Wilder, Alexander Povetkin, Tyson Fury and Johnathon Banks.
Peter thinks that Hughie will grow from the experience of being in the ring with Firtha, and will eventually be a top fighter in the heavyweight division within two or three years.
“He [Firtha] went the distance with Povetkin. He got a controversial decision with Johnathon Banks,” Peter Fury said to PT Boxing. “His last fight with Deontay Wilder. He gave Wilder a decent run for his money for four rounds. He took a lot of punishment. He fights back. He’s got movement. He gave Tyson [Fury] a war. He gave Tyson problems as well in the 3rd or 4th rounds. He came back and had a barnstormer, and got him out of there in five. It’s not a pushover fighter. It’s another good learning fight for Hughie. So this is why we picked him,” Peter said.
I think this is a fight that potentially could be a bad one for Hughie, because Firtha has the size to reach him with his shots. This is an opponent with the same height as Hughie, and he’s going to force Hughie to actually fight him rather than running like he’s been doing lately in his fights against George Arias and Andriy Rudenko.
Hughie wastes so much energy with the way he changes directions constantly for no apparent reason. He moves around like he’s lost his senses completely. He doesn’t seem capable of standing in the pocket against his opponents due to his lack of punching power and his faith or lack thereof in his chin. Against Arias, Fury frequently held his left out in front of him and used it as a stick to keep Arias from getting close enough to land his shots.
Hughie was warned about this strategy by the referee, but he kept doing it. Hughie’s jab is more like a back hand than an actual jab. It’s a limp back hand. I’m surprised the referees don’t jump on Hughie’s case for his back hand jabs because I don’t think he would get away with using that punch in other places.
“Hughie is having good learning fights from now on,” Peter said. “He’s fought two decent fighters in Arias and Rudenko. Now he’s on for a good fight against Firtha. This will be his 17th fight. In reality, these are journeyman. The rest are gate keepers. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. It’s not any competition. He’s [Hughie] 20 [Actually, Hughie is 21]. I’m going to keep him learning. He’s still developing. What’s the rush? We got Tyson where he’s at now. With Hughie, we’re going to keep him going, and let him fight properly. In the next two or three years, he’ll be a phenomenal force,” Hughie said.
Hughie was supposed to beat Mike Tyson’s record of becoming the youngest fighter to win a heavyweight title at 20, but that didn’t happen. Hughie is now 21 and Peter is saying another two or three years before he’s a force in the heavyweight division. Presumably, that will be when Hughie is finally fighting top caliber opposition. I don’t see it happening. Hughie is too limited, too weak and too limp with punches. I think he needs some kind of help in the power department. I just don’t know that it’s possible to add power to a fighter that is so lacking in that area.
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