Fury to hit NZ early for Parker fight

Briton planning long build-up in Auckland

The immigration status of a key member of Hughie Fury’s camp is unclear, but whether dad and trainer Peter is allowed into the country or not, the boxer challenging Joseph Parker for his WBO heavyweight world title will base himself in Auckland a full month before his fight.

Hughie Fury’s acclimatisation strategy is very different to that favoured by Andy Ruiz Jr, the MexicanAmerican who arrived in the city from his California base only six days before his shot against Parker last December.

On arrival, Ruiz claimed it would make no difference to his preparation, saying: “I’ve done this three times when I went to China . . . I don’t think this affects me in any way.”

But the previously undefeated fighter noticeably tired in the second half of the bout at Vector Arena as Parker claimed the vacant title with a majority decision.

Afterwards, Ruiz, who knew he would get few favours from the judges against the hometown favourite, lamented that he didn’t quite work hard enough in the later rounds.

Jetlag is not a risk Peter Fury, who is appealing Immigration New Zealand’s decision to deny him a visa due to his criminal background, wants to take for Hughie for the fight at Vector Arena on May 6. He said in an interview with British Boxing TV in England: “He needs a minimum of four weeks out there, to adapt to the time difference and stuff. We definitely need the time out there.”

That attitude has been applauded by Parker’s promoter David Higgins, who told the Herald: “Every boxer is different. The fact that he wants to come four or five weeks out suggests he wants to acclimatise and avoid jetlag rather than turn up a week before and risk fatigue. It’s actually quite smart.

“Peter is a very cunning trainer, as we saw when he devised Tyson’s strategy against Klitschko.”

Peter’s nephew Tyson shocked the boxing world with his victory over Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in late 2015 — the bout which unlocked the division — and a win for Hughie over Parker would be another big surprise.

Hughie, a 22-year-old with a 20-0 professional record, looks noticeably slimmer following an intense camp that saw him training over Christmas, but Peter said he was in fact as heavy as he had ever been.

“He’s going to weigh in about his heaviest. I think he’s about 16 stone 7 pounds [106kg] at the moment, so he’s going up. His weight will be over 17 stone [108kg] on fight day.”

That means Parker, who weighed in at 112kg for the Ruiz fight, is likely to have a weight advantage, and Peter has no doubt about Parker’s ability: “He’s loose, he fires good shots from different angles. I rate the kid, he’s not a world champion for nothing, and he’s fought probably better opposition than any of the other young heavyweights coming up.”

Higgins said demand for tickets — which went on sale on Monday — was high, particularly for corporate tables.

“It’s very encouraging,” he said. “There is higher demand than for Joseph’s last fight.”