Parker can put demons of past fights to bed against Fury
TOMORROW, one of boxing’s major heavyweight titles is on the line when WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (23-0; 18 KO) looks to defend his belt against Hughie Fury (20-0; 10KO). Ring Magazine has Parker as the sport’s #5 ranked heavyweight contender with Fury outside the top 10. The fight takes place in the Manchester Arena in the UK tomorrow
Fury is, of course, a Fury. Specifically, he’s the younger cousin to the absent heavyweight king Tyson Fury. He’s been a pro since 2013, and in Tyson’s absence, there’s been something of a desire to crown him the next Tyson. Which is a bit unfair to Hughie who, on the one hand, is not as skilled as Tyson, but on the other hand, is still a talented young heavyweight.
Fury is largely untested. His only really significant opponent is Fred Kassi, who he handled with relative ease in April 2016. Unfortunately for Fury, he’s been sidelined ever since (though he did have an exhibition fight over summer). He’s a pretty big question mark here.
It’s quite hard to know. You have two young, undefeated heavyweights fighting for the world title here, and that has the potential to lead to an exciting fight. But Parker seems to have hit his limit, and Fury is likely to bring in a degree of rust that makes it hard to predict just how he handles this fight. That said, Parker’s been managing to just sneak by in recent fights.
If Fury is on his game, he should be able to capitalise on those gaps in Parker’s game, and bring the WBO title back home to Team Fury.
Prediction: Hughie Fury, UD
Heavyweight fans looking to see if either of these boxers has what it takes to truly compete at the sport’s very highest levels. — Express.uk