By Barry Holbrook: Eddie Hearn is planning a fight between Hughie Fury and former heavyweight world title challenger Mariusz Wach for December 12th on the Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev card.
Hearn had previously considered the Hughie vs. Wach card fight for Dillian Whyte’s rematch with Alexander Povetkin on November 21st. Still, that fight has now been postponed until January 30th due to Povetkin’s positive test for COVID 19.
Fury (24-3, 14 KOs) will be looking to pick up his second consecutive win since losing a 12 round unanimous decision to Povetkin in 2019.
Hughie vs. Wach isn’t a PPV worthy fight
Hearn isn’t going to make too many British boxing fans happy by sticking the Hughie vs. Wach fight on the Joshua vs. Pulev pay-per-view card on Sky Box Office.
Fans expect more for their money than seeing the 26-year-old Hughie take on the 40-year-old Wach in a likely 10-pounder. Neither of these two heavyweights is going anywhere, and it’s not a fight that promises to be action-packed.
“Hughie Fury will likely fight Mariusz Wach. He was due to fight him on the Dillian Whyte card, but obviously, we’re having to re-jig that a little bit,” said Eddie Hearn to IFL TV.
“He could land on the Anthony Joshua card on December 12th. We potentially have Hughie Fury against Wach,” Hearn said.
The 6’6″ Hughie has a history of spoiling with his clinches and constant movement. His fighting style is one that is difficult on the eyes at times.
Hughie’s defeat last year to Povetkin has resulted in him being dropped from the top 15, which is surprising. He’s been ranked in the top 15 for many years despite not having ever beaten anyone solid in the division.
Wach could beat Hughie
As bad as Hughie looked in his defeats and Povetkin and Pulev, Wach (36-6, 19 KOs) has an excellent chance of defeating him. Losing to the 6’7″ Wach would signal that Hughie needs to start considering retirement from boxing.
Hughie isn’t going to capture a world title like some believed he would when he turned pro in 2013, and he’s clearly on his way to journeyman status.
Wach is coming off of a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson last June in Poland.
In Wach’s fight before that, he gave an out of condition Dillian Whyte all he could handle for 10 rounds in losing a decision to him last December in Saudi Arabia.
Those two fights showed that Wach could be a big problem for Hughie, and he may pull off an upset. If you can’t call it an upset if Wach wins, Hughie has never proven himself capable of beating anyone talented during his seven-year career.
Hearn is also talking about adding super middleweight contender John Ryder to the Joshua vs. Pulev card on December 12th. Ryder may take on Fedor Chudinov.
“We have John Ryder as well,” said Hearn. “It looks like the WBA is going to order Ryder against [Fedor] Chudinov.
“It’s just a case of whether that fight can land on December 12th. But Ryder will box this year regardless. If Chudinov’s not ready, he’ll box and then fight Chudinov next,” said Hearn.