By Patrick McHugh: Undefeated heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (19-0, 10 KOs) will be taking a step up in class to face 36-year-old journeyman Fred Kassi (18-4-1, 10 KOs) in a 10 round fight at the end of this month on April 30 in a fight for the vacant WBO International heavyweight title at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.
Fury-Kassi will be the headliner fight after WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders pulled out of the card with a hand injury. He was supposed to be facing fringe contender Max Bursak.
Kassi, 6’0”, has good punching power, but he’s found himself having problems getting victories lately despite fighting well.
Born and raised in Cameroon, Kassi was arguably robbed in his last fight in September against un beaten American Dominic Breazeale in losing a controversial 10 round decision. Many boxing fans felt that Kassi deserved the victory in that fight, but instead he found himself losing a fairly lopsided decision against the tall 6’7” 2012 U.S. Olympian Breazeale.
The fight was scored 98-92, 97-93 and 100-90 for Breazeale. Those scored would be fine if they were for another fight not involving Kassi and Breazeale, but they made no sense for the fight that took place between them. Breazale struggled all night against the pressure and hard punches from Kassi.
In Kassi’s fight before that, he fought to a controversial 10 round draw against former heavyweight world title challenger Chris Arreola in July of last year in El Paso, Texas. That fight appeared to be a clear win for Kassi without question, but he found himself having to settle for a draw. The judges scored the fight 95-95, 95-95, and 96-94 for Kassi. You can argue that Kassi deserved to win that fight by at least four rounds. Arreola fought poorly throughout and was hurt by Kassi in once instance in the fight.
This is a big step up for Hughie, the cousin of IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. The 6’6” Hughie has been facing weaker opposition for the most part recently, and he hasn’t had a real opponent that could test his chin properly the way that Kassi will.
“I’m aiming to make a big impact in the next few years and join my cousin Tyson at the very top of the sport. I’m delighted to be featuring on BoxNation again, I’ve boxed on their shows in the past and really enjoyed the experience,” said Hughie Fury.
Hughie will have a big six-inch height advantage over Kassi in this fight. However, Kassi did quite well against an even taller fighter in his last fight against the 6’7” Breazeale. Hughie is going to need some offense and will need to be mobile to keep from getting hit hard by Kassi. If Hughie remains stationary for too long, he’s going to get hammered by Kassi, who is a very good puncher with better power than Hughie.
Hughie will need to show that he can at least fight Kassi at some point in the fight for him not to be booed out of the Copper Box Arena in April 30. In Hughie’s fight against Andriy Rudenko in February 2015, Hughie used movement the entire 10 rounds of the fight and seemed reluctant to trade shots with Rudenko.
Hughe’s management has since put him in with weaker opposition in his last four fights in putting him in with Georgia Arias, Emilio Ezequiel Zarate , Larry Olubamiwo and Dominick Guinn. Hughie has looked good, but he’s done it against weaker opposition than what he faced in the Rudenko fight. Kassi is at least as good as Rudenko, maybe a little better because he’s a better pressure fighter with more power.
Hughie has to be able to stand and fight against Kassi because it’s going to look bad if Hughie, 21, is seen moving away from Kassi all night long. The boxing fans at the Copper Box are going to be expecting a dog fight with Hughie in the main event, and the only way he can give the fans what they want to see is by going to war with Kassi.
“This is the first title I’ll be going for so I’m buzzing to get in there and do the business. I was straight back in the gym after my win over Dominick Guinn and I’m feeling fit and ready to go again,” said Hughie.
The Hughie vs. Kassi fight will be for the WBO International heavyweight title. It’s not a major title, but the winner of this fight will likely see themselves given a very favorable ranking by the World Boxing Organization.
Tyson Fury is currently the WBO champion, so there’s no possibility of Hughie ever facing him for that belt. But when/if Fury is no longer the WBO champion, then Hughie would be in a good position to fight against whoever the WBO champion is at the time.
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