Via Barry Holbrook: Heavyweights Hughie Fury and Michael Hunter have agreed to take part in a July bout. Promoter Ben Shalom says exact dates and locations are still being worked out.
27-year-old Fury (26-3, 15 KOs) is up against another heavyweight in WBA 2nd, 9th WBC Hunter (20-1-2, 14 KOs).
A win over the 33-year-old Hunter could put nine-year professional Hughie in a position that could soon challenge for a world title.
Hughie had the opportunity to position himself to challenge WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2019. Unfortunately, he was unanimously defeated by Alexander Povetkin by nearly 12 rounds in a title elimination bout. .
Fury 6’6″ has improved recently, having won his last three skirmishes against Pavel Sour, Mariusz Wach and Christian Hammer.
Hunter has been having some tough luck lately, fighting for a tie with Povetkin and Jerry Forrest. He destroyed Shawn Laughery and Mike Wilson by knockout in the fourth round in two impressive performances.
However, Hunter chose not to face Filip Hrgovic in an IBF title elimination that would have locked him out as the required challenger to champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“We have Fury – Hunter in early July. Terms have been agreed, so it’s only the beginning of July,” Ben Shalom told Social boxing about the fight between two heavyweights Hughie Fury and Michael Hunter.
“It was an unbelievable fight,” Shalom continued of the fight between Hughie and Hunter. “It’s a 50-50 war on paper. Fury is ready for that fight, and he’s waiting.
“He intends to fight [Robert Helenious], and that’s what was ordered. In the end, Helenius did not accept. Michael Hunter is one of those fighters we all know how good he is.
“He has never really reached the heights he could have been. I’m looking forward to that in early July. It was a great moment for Hughie. That was the beginning for Hughie.
“He fought such elites early in his career, and now he can feel like he’s at his peak. It’s been a big fight for him, and hopefully, he’ll go on to bigger and better things,” Shalom said of Hughie.
It will be interesting to see if Hughie can continue his impressive streak as he looks to have gotten so much better, displaying more power and skill than ever before.
If Hughie continues to improve, he will have a good chance of beating IBF/WBA/WBO champion Usyk if he is still the belt holder by the time he gets a hit.
