Nelson Mail

Romanian fills Fury fight spot

- DUNCAN JOHNSTONE

Romanian Razvan Cojanu will be unveiled as Joseph Parker’s opponent today, replacing Britain’s Hughie Fury.

Fury pulled out of the May 6 WBO world heavyweigh­t title at the 11th hour, leaving Parker’s promoters, Duco Events, scrambling for a a worthy opponent.

WBO rules, having approved a voluntary defence, said the opponent must be ranked inside their top 15, be training and in fight condition.

Cojanu fits the bill despite not being a household name. But how good is he and is he worthy of a shot at a world belt?

‘‘We are excited, we think we have got someone that is at least as good as Hughie Fury and certainly has more power than Hughie Fury,’’ Duco boss David Higgins said.

California-based Cojanu has a record of 16 wins (9 by KO) and 2 losses (1 by KO). Independen­t boxing rankers BoxRec have him at No 78. Fury is No 25. Parker is No 6.

Cojanu’s height and skills make him a popular sparring partner. Ironically Parker has used him in his latest camp preparing for Fury.

The announceme­nt comes as the bitter battle between the Parker and Fury camps as the fallout to their non-show continues. Higgins strongly denied claims made by Peter Fury, the father and trainer of Hughie, accusing Duco of shopping the promotion back to Britain.

‘‘It was they who were trying to move the fight, even after preparatio­ns were already underway. The date had been set but they said they had spent too much money on the fight and that it wouldn’t work in New Zealand,’’ Fury wrote in a hard-hitting column for the in the UK.

That was below the belt, according to Higgins. ‘‘I totally refute that,’’ he said. ‘‘From day one the Furys did not want to come to New Zealand, they just refused to come here. That’s why we went to purse bid to force it. We won the purse bid and booked the fight for New Zealand. The fight was going to happen on May 6.

‘‘Behind the scenes it was them trying to convince us to move it to England.’’

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