Hughie Fury (20-0, 10KOs) is set to take on the dangerous WBO Inter-continental champion Andy Ruiz Jr (28-0, 19KOs) in a battle of unbeaten heavyweight contenders. The winner of the fight will claim mandatory challenger spot for a shot at the WBO world heavyweight title.
The scrap will be on the undercard of his cousin, unified world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s long-awaited rematch with Wladimir Klitschko at the Manchester Arena on October 29th. The show is expected to be officially announced on Monday afternoon at an hotel in London.
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Hughie, a former world amateur champion, has made steady progress in the paid ranks, learning his trade the right way under trainer and father Peter Fury. Against Ruiz Jr, he will be facing his toughest test so far in his twenty fight career and a big step up according to promoter Frank Warren in his recent column.
“Hughie is only a young man for a heavyweight, much younger than IBF champion Anthony Joshua, 26, and even our recent Olympic silver medallist Joe Joyce, 30.” said Warren who will hold the presser to announce the Manchester show, that is also set to feature WBO world middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders.
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“So this is a big step up for him at such a young age but one he can certainly win. Fury’s trainer and father Peter has never held back in saying how good his son is. Now he really is stepping up to the plate against the Mexican-born Ruiz, who has yet to lose in 28 pro bouts with 19 of those wins by knockout.”
A win for Fury would create something of a dilemma in the Fury household because being No1 challenger for the WBO world heavyweight title, would put him up against cousin Tyson, who currently holds the belt. A fight between the both would never happen and so we would be left with a similar situation as the Klitschko brothers, who reigned side by side for many years, each holding different versions of the heavyweight championships. So it would almost likely result in Tyson vacating the belt for Hughie to fight someone else for it.
“If both of the Fury family win on the night it could leave us with an awkward situation, but we will come to that if it happens.” explained Warren, who went on to talk about how Hughie has been fighting well below his best for most of his pro career, due to illness..
“I know some people are still unsure about the younger Fury but he has won 20 professional fights all with a debilitating skin condition. He was on tablets for the problem but they were making him tired and lethargic.
“We sent him to a skin specialist and the expert said it was the worst case of acne conglobata he had seen in a long time. But he has changed his diet to help clear up the problem and will be 100 per cent on October 29.
“Fury has won all 20 fights with the issue so how good is he going to be now he is fully fit? There have been doubts about the main event going ahead on October 29 in Manchester. But I expect an announcement to confirm everything is going ahead as planned soon.” Warren added.
Watch the fights live on BoxNation
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