By William Lloyd: #4 WBA heavyweight contender Hughie Fury could be fighting former two-time world title challenger Chris Arreola next. Hughie needs a solid win over a highly ranked contender to get him in a position to challenge for a world title against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua if he reclaims his titles in early next year.
Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs) is a good option for the 6’6″ Fury to keep him busy before facing former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker or Dereck Chisora. Hughie must look good in defeating Arreola for him to have a chance to fight the winner of the Parker vs. Chisora 2 fight.
For Hughie, he can’t afford to spoil all night by holding and using his pull-back style. Fans want to be entertained, and sometimes Hughie’s fights can be pretty dull due to his running & holding.
Parker is fighting Chisora next month on December 18th, and Hughie would be an excellent option for the winner of that contest.
The management for the 27-year-old Hughie (26-3, 15 KOs) wants to get him a big-named American heavyweight for his next fight following his recent fifth round stoppage win over Christian Hammer on October 16th.
Arreola is coming off a 12 round unanimous decision defeat against former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. on May 1st in Carson, California. ‘The Nightmare’ Arreola dropped Ruiz Jr. in the second round and was competitive the entire fight.
Hughie lost to former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in September 2017 by a 12 round majority decision in a winnable fight in Manchester, England.
A year later, Hughie was beaten by Kubrat Pulev by a 12 round unanimous decision in Sofia, Bulgaria, in a world title eliminator.
In 2019 in a WBA title eliminator, Hughie tasted defeat for the third time in losing to Alexander Povetkin by a 12 round unanimous decision.
After that defeat, it was thought by many boxing fans that Hughie was done and would never be seen again in a position to put punch his ticket in a title eliminator, but he’s nearing that again.
If Hughie beats Arreola and then the Parker vs. Chisora II fight winner, he’s got a chance to become mandatory for the WBA title, which Oleksandr Usyk currently holds. Still, it might soon be back in the hands of Anthony Joshua.
“Peter Fury wants Arreola, and we think that’s a great fight,” said promoter Ben Shalom to Sky Sports.
“Arreola did really well against Andy Ruiz Jr. We think it’s time for Hughie to step up after an impressive win over Hammer. There are a lot of potential opponents being chucked around.
“We have our eye on Derek Chisora next year for Hughie. Hughie is just circling around the top 10 in the world. He’s waiting to fight any of them. He would fight Dillian Whyte; he would fight Chisora; he would fight Joseph Parker again. He thinks he’s got Parker’s number.”
The 37-year-old former world title challenger Chisora would be a good payday for Hughie, but he needs to aim higher than that if he wants to fight for a world title.
Chisora looked pretty washed in his last fight against Parker, and he’ll likely lose to the New Zealander in their rematch on December 18th.
Hughie did not look like he had Parker’s number in their fight four years ago in 2017. On the contrary, Hughie spent the better part of the fight clinching & moving to avoid getting hit by Parker, making the contest dull.
The way Hughie fought, he looked scared of Parker, and he didn’t do enough even to come close to beating him. This writer had Parker winning 11 rounds to 1 over Hughie, and you’d be very generous to give him two rounds.