By Edward Chaykovsky
According to Hughie Fury (20-0, 10 KOs), he is currently in negotiations to fight WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) in March.
Hughie, who is the cousin of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, has been out of the ring since his technical decision victory over Fred Kassi on April 30th. He suffered a very bad cut above his left eye during the contest and it was stopped short.
He was scheduled to fight again last month as part of the undercard to Tyson's rematch with Wladimir Klitschko. The entire card was canceled after Tyson withdrew from the bout. Also, Fury's scheduled opponent Andy Ruiz had withdraw a few weeks earlier over managerial issues.
At 22-years-old and standing at 6'6, Hughie would be one of Wilder's youngest and biggest opponents.
Wilder has been out of the ring since July, when he knocked out Chris Arreola. He suffered several injuries in the contest and is now nearly healed to begin full training. He wants to take a voluntary fight in the beginning of the year and then he's heading to a mandatory title fight against the winner of next month's battle between Alexander Povetkin and Bermane Stiverne.
Hughie flew out with Tyson to watch Wilder defend his belt against Artur Szpilka back in January at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He feels Wilder's style is very flawed and doesn't have that good of a chin.
Hughie said to The Mirror: “We’re in negotiations with Wilder and hopefully it will come off so I can have a showdown with him. I definitely see ways I can beat Wilder. Me and my dad (trainer Peter) have already sat down and looked at plenty of ways I can beat him. Wilder is very beatable. He’s never fought a decent opponent.
“Me and Tyson went over to New York to watch him live when he fought the Polish kid, Artur Szpilka, and he was getting beaten then, he was getting outboxed until he landed the bomb. So he’s out-boxable, easy. He just has a big punch and I can definitely take his shots. I’ve never been wobbled in my life or been put down in all my fights. I’ve got a good chin, whereas Wilder is a bit chinny, to be honest.”
Hughie was offered the opportunity to face IBF champion Anthony Joshua on December 10th. He says the financial terms for the contest were very low. Joshua is now facing Eric Molina on the show. Hughie believes the monetary amount was so low that it couldn't have been a serious offer.
Fury added: “They offered us the fight but it was silly money. My dad was in negotiations with them but they didn’t want it so they went somewhere else. I’d take that fight tomorrow. But they were talking stupid at the end of the day. They just offered us the fight to say they’d offered it. But we’d take the fight tomorrow if everything was right financially. That’s the fight I want.”
