By Edward Chaykovsky
Heavyweight contender Hughie Fury (20-0, 10 KOs), 22-years-old, believes he is capable of unifying the entire heavyweight division.
Fury plans to take the first step to that goal next year, when Fury potentially takes on WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (22-0, 18 KOs). His cousin Tyson was the unified king of the division after shocking Wladimir Klitschko last November to capture the IBO, WBO, WBA, IBF world titles. He was stripped of the IBF and then vacated the remaining three after suffering a mental breakdown.
Parker captured the world title earlier this month with a very close twelve round decision over Andy Ruiz in Auckland. The mandatory challenger to the belt was David Haye, but he accepted a pay-per-view fight against Tony Bellew for March 4th. That leaves Fury, who is the highest ranked available contender to the title.
The teams behind Parker and Fury are currently involved in negotiations. It will be interesting where the fight ends up, with Parker recently signing a co-promotional deal with Top Rank, who want to bring his next fight to the United States. Fury wants to get that fight on UK soil.
"We're in negotiations with it at the minute," Fury exclusively told Sky Sports. "I am mandatory, so it will be happening either way. I'm in the No 1 position, I'm mandatory, and I will be fighting for that title.
"It would be nice to have it at home in England, where the home crowd is, instead of travelling away, but it doesn't really matter to me. I have never fought in my hometown before. It would be nice to fight for a world title there. It would be something spectacular."
"I'm not in this sport just to win a world title and that's it, throw it up in the air and go wild. I'm here to win it and prove that I am a worthy champion. That's what I have done since I was young kid. I had my first amateur fight at 11 years old and I've been training since I was a kid for this. This is all I've wanted to do. I've sacrificed all the girlfriends, the going out partying. I've been full dedicated since a young age, because I always knew what I wanted to be. Once I win that title, I'm coming for them all."
Hughie was not overly impressed with Parker's title winning effort, because he felt Ruiz should have been awarded the victory and the title. He feels Parker struggled during the contest.
"I do rate Joseph Parker, he's a good talented heavyweight, but I believe I've got the tools to beat him. I believe I'm his worst nightmare. He struggled against Ruiz. I did have Ruiz winning that fight to be honest with you by a few rounds. The reason why Ruiz never got the fight is because one, from being in his hometown and two, he never pushed the issue," Fury said.
"He just calmed down in the later rounds, never had the work-rate or fitness to keep it up. I still had Ruiz winning it, but Joseph Parker came out on top in the end. Congratulations to him, but he won't be keeping that title for long."
