By William Lloyd: Hughie Fury believes it’s his destiny to become a world champion and hold the #1 position at the top of the sport. The 26-year-old cousin of WBC champion Tyson Fury says he’s matured and learned enough through his eight-year professional career to capture a world title once he’s allowed to fight for a belt.
Hughie (25-3, 14 KOs) fought for a world title four years ago, losing to WBO champion Joseph Parker by an ugly clinch-filled 12 round majority decision in September 2017. But that was when Hughie was only 22 and not nearly old enough to be fighting a guy of Parker’s caliber.
That was the first of three losses for Hughie, as he was beaten more convincingly by Kubrat Pulev in 2018 and Alexander Povetkin in 2019. Those were great learning fights for Hughie, who has fixed the mistakes that he made in them and progressed as a fighter.
In Hughie’s last two contests, he’s looked impressive in beating Pavel Sour and former world title challenger Mariusz Wach.
Hughie: It’s my destiny to be at the top
Last December, Hughie looked sensational pitching a 10 round shutout of the big 6’7″ Wach, who had given Dillian Whyte all he could handle in their fight in December 2019.
In a sign of how far Hughie has progressed as a fighter, he looked better at beating Wach than Whyte had.
Next month, Hughie will be taking on the well-seasoned veteran Christian Hammer (26-7, 16 KOs) in a 10 round bout on October 16th on Sky Sports at the Newcastle Arena in Newcastle, England.
Hughie wants to put in a world title eliminator to become mandatory for one of the champions.
Currently, Hughie is ranked outside of the top 15 by the four sanctioning bodies, which means he’s got to put some wins together against notable opposition to get moved up in a hurry.
“I believe I will be the champion of the world. It is my destiny to be at the top,” said Hughie Fury to Sky Sports. “To become a world champion is all that’s in my mind.
“Whoever has got a belt, I want those belts. I will get through this fight, get into a mandatory position, and whoever has got a belt at the time, I’ll take,” said Hughie Fury.
“I’ll knock him out. People are going to see – it is going to be dominating,” said Hughie in predicting a stoppage of the 33-year-old Hammer.
It will be impressive if Hughie can knock out the Germany-based Hammer, as he’s only been stopped on a couple of occasions during his 13-year pro career by the likes of Wach and Tyson Fury.
Fury is ready for the “Right fights”
The career-long knock on Hughie is that he lacks punching power, holds too much, and tends to gas out and run from his opponents. His power has seemingly improved lately, and he’s not holding as much as he did through most of his career.
For Fury to beat Hammer, he can’t clinch him excessively, and he’s got to stay in there not move as much.
If this fight were in Germany, Hughie might lose if he employed those tactics because the judges wouldn’t be as forgiving as they would in Newcastle.
“Before, it was a boy against men,” said Hughie. “Now I’ve come into myself, and it will be a different story. Get the right fights. I don’t care who it is, and get those belts.”
Hughie isn’t saying who he’s referring to when he says he wants the “right fights, but these would be good options:
- Filip Hrgovic
- Tony Yoka
- Dillian Whyte
- Frank Sanchez
- Efe Ajaba
- Jared Anderson
- Michael Hunter
- Daniel Dubois
- Joe Joyce
- Arslanbek Makhmudov
- Andy Ruiz Jr.
- Joseph Parker
- Luis Ortiz
- Otto Wallin
- Deontay Wilder
If Hughie can start beating those guys, he’ll be the mandatory challenger for one of the world champions almost immediately.
Of course, if Hughie can’t beat any of them, he’s kidding himself when he talks about capturing a world title and holding the top spot in the heavyweight division.