By Patrick McHugh: Unbeaten 6’6” heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (19-0, 10 KOs) could be fighting for a world title within the next six months, according to promoter Frank Warren. Hughie is fighting well and moving his career along steadily with victories over solid fighters.
The 21-year-old Hughie will be taking his biggest step of his career in a little over two weeks from now against the 6’0” Fred Kassi (18-4-1, 10 KOs) on April 30 at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK. The Hughie vs. Kassi fight will be the top of the bill of the card, which will be televised on BoxNation.
If Hughie can get past Kassi and look good in doing so, then it’ll show the boxing world that he’s for real as a potential future world title challenger. Kassi has recently been a problem opponent for fighters like Chris Arrerola and Dominic Breazeale.
Kassi deserved wins over both of those guys, but the scoring for those fights left a lot to be desired. The last time Kassi was clearly beaten was in losing to the powerful puncher Amir Mansour by a 7th round knockout in November 2014. Kassi, 36, has improved a lot since that fight.
It’s not common for fighters to get better once they get past their 35th birthday, but Kassi is an exception to that rule. He’s improved steadily in recent fights, and he’s now arguably a fighter that could compete with many of the top 10 contenders in the heavyweight division.
“Within the next 12 months I wouldn’t be surprised if Hughie was fighting for a version of the world title,” said promoter Frank Warren.
If Hughie does fight for a world title in the next year, he’s going to need to be moved strategically. Putting him in with IBF champion Anthony Joshua might not be a good idea in the short term until Hughie develops more punching power. He’s not hitting with enough power to do well against Joshua at this time. This could change in the future as Hughie gets older and more powerful, but right now he doesn’t possess the needed attributes to successfully compete against Joshua.
Hughie is the nephew of IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, so he’s not an option for him either. The only real option that Hughie has to fight for a world title is WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. Hughie was offered a fight against the 6’7” Wilder late last year, but his team turned down the fight because they needed more time to train for it. Wilder would be a tough fight for Hughie because he’s faster, more powerful and with better mobility. It would be a bad style match-up for Hughie at this time.
Hughie can make more money fighting Joshua than Wilder. If Hughie is interested in the bigger payday, he might want to go after Joshua if he’s still the IBF heavyweight champion by this time next year. Depending on how Hughie’s career is moved along in the next 12 months, it could be a big fight between him and Joshua in 2017.
Hughie would need to keep facing better opponents with each fight before then to make it a really big match-up. He couldn’t go back to fighting guys like Dominick Guinn, Larry Olubamiwo, Emilio Ezequiel Zarate and George Arias. Hughie would need to start facing contenders like Bryant Jennings, Johann Duhaupas, Andy Ruiz, Jarrell Miller and Artur Szpilka.
“I don’t see many people out there in the heavyweight division that are capable of stopping me; it’s wide open. I’m going to get the right fights under my belt and make my mark on the division. The aim is to follow in the footsteps of Tyson and become a world champion,” said Fury.
Tyson Fury didn’t start facing quality opposition until his fifth year as a pro. He did have a fight against Dereck Chisora in his third year as a pro in 2011. Hughie is in his third year as a pro. For Hughie to follow in the same footsteps as Tyson, he’s going to need to continue to step it up.
It wouldn’t be a good idea for Hughie to go from fighting the likes of Fred Kassi to fighting for a world title against Wilder or Joshua. It wouldn’t be fair to Hughie. He needs to be matched against guys that will be able to get him ready for what he’ll be facing when he gets inside the ring with those bigger heavyweights.
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