By Terence Dooley
Hughie Fury’s father and trainer, Peter, believes that his son can net the British heavyweight title when he challenges Sam Sexton for the belt at Bolton’s Macron Arena on Saturday night en route to what would be a dream headlining slot in Belfast.
Hughie’s cousin, Tyson, also held the British title and Peter believes that the British belt will be his son’s first step towards another world title tilt after being narrowly out-pointed by then-WBO holder Jospeh Parker via a Majority Decision at the Manchester Arena in September.
“Hughie has learned a lot from his loss to Parker,” stated the trainer when speaking to David Kelly of the Belfast Telegraph. “The loss is a blessing in disguise because it has shown him that just doing enough to win isn't going to get you the title. He has to be that bit more aggressive, I want to see him let the punches flow and show the flair he has and when he does that then you will see the best of him.”
He added: “God willing he wins the title then we would love to have a defence in Belfast. We had a great time when he boxed in the City Hall [W4 against Moses Matovu in May 2013] and there's such a buzz around boxing in Ireland at the moment that it would be great to fight there again.”
Fury (20-1, 10 KOs), though, must be wary that he doesn’t slip up against former Commonwealth holder Sexton (24-3, 9 early), who could be knocked completely out of the title picture if he fails to win. “Sexton is a good all-round British fighter and I think he will be a good test for Hughie,” he said. “But I am very confident that Hughie will get the job done and look very good.”
Channel 5 will televise the fight here in the UK, giving Fury some much-needed exposure on terrestrial TV.
Mick Hennessy is promoting the show, and both he and Fury has stated that they intend to ensure that the 23-year-old is kept busy this year in a bid to keep him sharp and force a mandatory title shot down the line.
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