FURY AND FLANAGAN SUFFER WORLD TITLE BLOWS
HUGHIE Fury’s hopes of a world title showdown with Anthony Joshua took a battering as he lost on points to Kubrat Pulev in Sofia.
The Stockport heavyweight knew a win against the Bulgarian in the IBF title eliminator could set up an all-British title clash.
But although Fury, 24, started the brighter, he was badly cut in the second round and found 27-yearold Pulev just too experienced.
“The cut was already there, we had it micro stitched two weeks ago and they said it should be okay,” said Fury’s dad and trainer Peter.
“So we tried to delay the fight but he would have lost his mandatory spot. It was a really, really bad cut so he came back in the second round and they said to him ‘get in there and try to get rid of him’ because it’s going to get stopped anyway.
“Pulev was the better man – no excuses.
“Hughie’s still learning. Having fights like this will do him the world of good in the future.”
While Pulev will now be pushing for a chance at Joshua, Fury – whose cousin Tyson takes on Deontay Wilder for the WBC heavyweight title in December – now faces a spell out of the ring to let the wound heal properly.
“He’ll have to have a rest because I don’t know how many months that cut is going to take to heal because that’s bad,” said Peter.
Fury never really looked in control of the fight as Pulev consistently landed shots as well as maintaining a strong defence on his way to a 117-111, 118-110, 115-113 victory.
Meanwhile, Terry Flanagan’s hopes of another world title shot also took a hit as he lost to Regis Prograis through a unanimous points decision in the light-welterweight World Boxing Super Series in New Orleans.
Prograis went into the fight as heavy favourite and showed his superior ability, flooring the Ancoats fighter in round eight – the first time Flanagan has hit the canvas in his career – on the way to a 117-110, 118-109, 119-108 victory.