By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated #6 WBO heavyweight contender Hughie Fury (20-0, 10 KOs) thinks his cousin IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) is on the verge of sending former unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) into retirement when the two of them face each other on July 9 at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Hughie, 21, feels that Wladimir was fully prepared for the fight against Tyson Fury last November when the two of them fought each other in Dusseldorf, Germany, and he doesn’t think that Wladimir can improve over the performance he put in that time.
Hughie thinks that it’s going to be an EASY fight for Fury this time around. He also thinks Wladimir will be sent into retirement in this fight, although he also believes that he would be the No.2 fighter in the heavyweight division and capable of beating ALL of the other fighters apart from Fury.
“Tyson is massive and strong as well,” said Hughie to IFL TV. “He’s already got the measure of Wladimir Klitschko, and it’s just going to be an easy night. That was the best Wladimir you ever seen when he fought against Tyson [last November]. He knew what to expect when he fought Tyson. Emanuel [Steward] said, ‘Tyson is going to be the next best thing.’ He [Wladimir] already knew about that, so he went into that fight fully prepared. I don’t think you’ll see any better than what you’ve seen the last time [from Wladimir]. We’re going there to win. When Tyson beats him, what else is he [Wladimir] going to go? He’s got nowhere else to go. So I reckon he’s finished. But even if he doesn’t want to retire, I still think he’s the second best and then can clean up the division. I reckon, he’d beat the likes of Deontay Wilder, and whoever else is out there, the other champions,” said Hughie.
I wonder what Fury will do if Wladimir starts bouncing right hands off his head from the first round. Will Fury hit the deck like he did against Steven Cunningham or will he be able to take the shots and slap/run his way to a decision? I do not think Fury is going to be able to take Wladimir’s shots for long without dropping for the 10 count. Once Wladimir puts Fury on his back, he’ll finish him off if he dares to get back on his feet and resume fighting. Wladimir has too much power to allow Fury to survive once he has him half-stunned from one of his big right hands.
This is a fight where Fury will need to have his track shoes on from the early rounds for him to have a chance to survive to see the final bell. Wladimir just needs to work on cutting off the ring, and making sure he throws his right hand with maximum power each time he lets it go. This means that Wladimir cannot throw his right hand tentatively as he was last time. He’s got to throw it with speed and power. If he misses with his right, he needs to reload from in close to keep punching Fury without letup until he collapses onto the canvas in a heap.
I think Hughie is extremely naïve if he honestly believes that was the best Wladimir that fought Fury last November. Does Hughie mean the best Wladimir that he can be or the best Wladimir during his entire 20-year career? Either way, I think Hughie is dead wrong. Wladimir can be a lot better than he showed in the last fight with Fury, and, of course, Wladimir was a much better fighter earlier in his career. Gosh, if you threw Hughie or Fury in the ring with Wladimir 10 to 15 years ago, it would be a massacre. Heck, even if Wladimir fought those guys at the very start of his career in 1996, I think he’d have easily dispatched both Hughie and Fury on the same night. The Wladimir that lost to Ross Puritty in 1998, destroys Hughie and Fury. There’s no doubt in my mind. Wladimir was better at that time than Hughie and Fury will ever be in terms of talent and overall ability.
I do not see Fury beating Wladimir on July 9. That’s just not going to happen. Wladimir is going to come out with both guns blazing in throwing nonstop right hands until he’s bludgeoned Fury into the canvas. I just hope the referee steps in quickly so that Fury doesn’t take too much punishment because, I don’t want to see him get hurt.
Speaking of his own fight on the undercard on July 9, Hughie said, “I’m not sure who I’ll be facing. It’ll just be a run out opponent. I’m just keeping busy until I’m 100 percent, and when I’m 100 percent, I’ll step it back up again. I can’t wait until I’m 100 percent, and I’ll fight anyone and clear out the division.”
That’s hard to believe what Hughie says about him “clearing out the division” once he’s 100 percent. Hughie blames his recent poor performance against Fred Kassi on his problems with acne. He says the condition kept him from being 100 percent in that fight. I don’t buy it, and I do not believe for a second that Hughie will be any better than he is now once he’s cleared up his acne.
I believe the reason why Hughie looked so poor against Kassi is he finally fought someone with some halfway decent talent, and Hughie was not able to handle it. The fight was stopped prematurely in the 7th round due to Hughie having suffered a cut left eye from a clash of heads in the 6th. However, Kassi was getting to the very tired looking Hughie in that point in the fight, and he was starting to nail him with huge shots. Had the fight continued, I think Kassi would have knocked Hughie out. It’s fortunate for Hughie that the referee stopped the action and had the ringside doctor examine his cut eye, because if he didn’t, I think Kassi would have stopped him in a couple of more rounds.