In a quiet weekend of boxing action, attention turns to the return of Hughie Fury, as he bids to begin climbing the heavyweight ladder once again after suffering two defeats in his last three outings.
These two defeats weren’t clean cut. A controversial majority decision defeat to (then) WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker was followed by a loss to Kubrat Pulev in which Fury received a nasty cut early in the fight. Sandwiched in between was a dominant display to pick up the British heavyweight title against Sam Sexton last year, however, Tyson Fury’s cousin has always had his sights set on bigger prizes in the sport.
Saturday night sees Fury invite the challenge of Chris Norrad of Canada to the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester. Norrad – unbeaten with a record of 17-0 in the paid ranks – looks like a solid sell for the return of Fury, but despite this pumped up C.V, the 35-year-old is limited in his levels of experience. With a majority of six-rounders on his record, Fury’s technical ability and comfortable gas-tank should pay dividends in this fight, allowing Fury to put on a show in front of his home crowd as he looks to angle towards another title shot sometime in 2020.
Speaking at the fight press conference, Fury alluded to his desire to put on a show on Saturday night: “The win is not the priority. It’s how I win. I’m going to put on an exciting show. This time, like the Sam Sexton fight, there’s going to be fireworks. For a start, you’ll see a big difference in my physique because we’ve brought Kerry Kayes on board and I’m much stronger in my body.
I never liked sounding my own horn. Fighters can talk as much as you want during the build-up but I’ve always preferred to do my talking on fight night, inside the ring, the only place that matters”.
The signs are good for Fury and his team. Unprepared to be labelled with the ‘boring’ style that he and his cousin are often given, Hughie is looking to make a statement on Saturday; a points decision over a guy that hasn’t yet completed twelve rounds of boxing as a professional would certainly raise eyebrows for the legitimacy of Hughie’s world title bids in the future.
At just 24-years, Fury has time to grow into the division, with many heavyweights not peaking until they are in their late 20s. He has a style which enables him to stay away from danger in a fight, which in the long term will be a huge benefit to his career.
It seems like currently it is the hardest time to force yourself into a mandatory position to fight for a world title. Dillian Whyte is still waiting for his shot with the WBC having held the number one spot for a year and a half; Joshua holds the other three and is picking and choosing victims until his mandatories are called. Having been given a shot in 2017 it’s hard to envisage Fury moving himself into a mandatory slot in the next 18 months. He’s not the most active fighter, but this bout against Norrad could well prove to be the first step on the climb back to the heavyweight summit. He’s unquestionably got the skills – it’s now time to prove it with consistency.
Hughie Fury to win by KO, TKO or disqualification @ 3/10 (BetFred)
