Hughie Fury: Lots of Work Is Still Needed & A Look at British Boxing Matches Coming Up…
Last weekend the heavyweight division was supposed to see the latest British serious contender that would take the world stage by storm. Instead we got a fairly pedantic run through of the lack of true experience that Hughie Fury, 20-0, 10 KO’s has.
Over six rounds, the younger Fury, cousin of Tyson, struggled to put together a compelling case as to why he ought to be mentioned in the same hushed tones as Anthony Joshua, 16-0, 16 KO’s or big cousin, Tyson Fury, 25-0, 18 KO’s. Instead what we got was a wholly unsatisfactory win by technical decision over Fred Kassi, 18-4-1, 10 KO’s for the WBO international belt.
It was an accidental clash of heads between them that led to the referee having to stop the fight, Fury winning on those score cards with the judges scoring the fight 69-66, 70-64 and 69-65 in Hughie’s favor. The disappointment was palpable as this was his big chance – a top of the bill opportunity. Upon his shoulders rested a lot and one of the things that recent events has shown us in the heavyweight division in the UK is that there is no lack of contenders.
A few years ago, Tyson spoke on camera of how he would win one of the world titles, relinquish it and give young cousin Hughie the opportunity of becoming the youngest world champion, beating Mike Tyson’s record. Tyson was 20 years and 4 months old when he won a version of the title, Hughie is now 4 months off being 22. That record beat him.
Whether he has a world champion inside of him is still to be determined in the one place where it matters – the ring. His trainer, Peter Fury, talked of how flat Hughie was and how horrible Kassi was. Looking at the fight with fresh eyes I think that Fury was struggling in the 6th. Up until that point he had some control but Kassi was staying out of reach and making life difficult. The 6th was pivotal because Hughie’s lack of world level experience told. He ran, the crowd booed, he panicked, Kassi grew in confidence and had the clash of head not saved him – who knows what would have happened.
As it is, we must remember that the younger Fury is only 21. There is plenty to come from young Hughie and there needs to be, in my humble opinion, a bit of a rethink. Deontay Wilder, 36-0, 35 KO’s had offered this kid a chance at very short notice last year and if it were to happen again then I am sure trainer Peter would still refuse but this was supposed to be the kind of fight that showed Hughie would have stayed in the hunt with the likes of Wilder. It only showed that he has a lot to learn and Peter, having molded one world champion out of the family, may have a tougher task on hand to get another one.
Genuine world class fighters are not thin on the ground these days in the UK and certainly not in the lightweight division. Next up to prove his mettle is Manchester’s Anthony “Million Dollar” Crolla, 30-4-3, 12 KO’s. Having won the title in his home town last November in a rematch with Darleys Perez, 32-2-1, 20 KO’s, Crolla defends this weekend against the mandatory challenger that is Ismael Barossa 19-0-2, 18 KO’s. Barossa is no slouch and is well known to us in the UK as his fight against Kevin Mitchell, 39-4, 20 KO’s led to Mitchell hanging up his gloves and this could not be a tougher first defense if they had planned it – if some of the governing bodies can plan anything…
Barossa is undefeated and has already came across to fight on UK soil with that demolition of Mitchell in London on his record. Mitchell did not manage to fulfill his potential and become world champion but Crolla did that and is one of our world champions that does look a tad vulnerable. Barossa was brutal in how he dealt with Mitchell and he is determined to hold onto his undefeated tag.
Crolla, who was taken to the nation’s heart because he sustained career threatening injuries when he stepped in to stop two burglars stealing from his next door neighbor’s has fought back to claim his destiny; a world title. Along the way he has taken his fair share – 4 of them – of defeats and his record does not sparkle the way others may. What does shine from Crolla though, is honest endeavor. Will that be enough? I am not so sure. I think we might see either a draw that leads to calls for a rematch or Barossa manages to find enough to make it over the finishing line. I can see this going the distance and I think that is Crolla’s best hope of winning Crolla will have to outfox, out think and out box this tough Venezuelan. Of course, Crolla is one of the nice guys and I hope he pulls through this. The problem in boxing is, of course, that nice guys don’t always get the prize…
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