FISTS OF FURY ‘Forget Parker’
JOSEPH Parker has been put on notice by a bolshie Hughie Fury, who says he and his disgraced cousin Tyson Fury plan to rule the heavyweight division like the Klitschko brothers did.
New WBO champion Parker heads to Samoa today for a victory tour with his belt, won by beating Mexico’s Andy Ruiz in Auckland last Saturday night.
It’s a belt Hughie Fury wants and the big Brit has talked up his desire to do more than just grab it off Parker.
Fury, 22, suddenly finds himself in demand as the heavyweight ranks continue to swirl following the demise of Tyson Fury, who had to relinquish his belts through drug issues and mental health problems.
Hughie appears to be the mandatory challenger to Parker, a fight the WBO rules say must happen by the end of March. Fury is also being courted by WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Hughie told TalkSPORT in the UK that Parker was ‘‘definitely on his radar’’.
‘‘I am the mandatory position now with the WBO so it’s looking likely it could be him,’’ the 1.98m Hughie said.
‘‘It’s also looking like Deontay Wilder, so we’re in the mix of these two fights at the moment.
‘‘I feel great, so the next fight is going to be for the world championship whoever it is going to be.’’ Wilder had greater appeal at the moment because the American appeared to be willing to defend his title in Manchester, as early as February.
Parker’s handlers at Duco Events would prefer the WBO fight to be in New Zealand or perhaps Samoa if talks there over the next few days prove fruitful.
Duco are also keen on exploring a match for Parker against Wilder as they seek to unify the division, adding to the intrigue enveloping this trio of fighters.
Hughie is confident Tyson will return to action next year, though he said he wouldn’t fight his cousin.
‘‘No, we would never fight each other, we are like brothers. But the plan is, I’ll win my belt and he will come back and we will rule the division like the Klitschko brothers did. We’ll take it one belt at a time.’’
Fury, who is training in Cannes in the south of France, had little regard for the fighters who have claimed his cousin’s hardware.
‘‘I don’t believe there are a lot of champions out there. It’s an easy time to get belts at the moment.
‘‘The plan is to get all the belts back . . . I believe there is a lot of hype in the division.’’
He had watched Parker’s performance and wasn’t impressed.
‘‘To be honest, I had Ruiz winning the fight but I think he gave the fight away in the end,’’ Hughie told TalkSPORT.
He was similarly dismissive of Anthony Joshua’s defence of his IBF belt against American Eric Molina a few hours after Parker, a fight which ended in a third round knockout.
‘‘It was an easy fight. Molina looked beaten before he got in the ring. He looked terrified in there.’’
Hughie believed Joshua would be found out by Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in April, describing it as ‘‘a fight too soon for him’’.
Hughie said Joshua’s lack of movement and straight line REUTERS attack would see him walk into trouble against Klitschko, who would win in ‘‘six or seven rounds’’.
Hughie hasn’t fought since April as he battled health problems associated with his bad skin condition.