By Terence Dooley

Hughie Fury (19-0, 10 early) will meet Cameroon's Fred Kassi (18-4-1, 10 stoppages) for the WBO Intercontinental heavyweight title at London’s Copper Box Arena on April 30. Peter Fury, his father and trainer, confirmed the match-up when speaking to Boxingscene earlier today.

Fury’s fight against the New Orleans-based boxer will be shown live on BoxNation here in the U.K. and Fury is now the headline act as Billy Joe Saunders has had to withdraw from his maiden WBO middleweight title defence against Max Bursak due a hand injury he picked up in training.

It is his second fight of 2016. His father has told BoxingScene that the 21-year-old contender will remain active throughout 2016 and 2017 as they bid to guide him into world title contention.

“He is fighting Kassi,” confirmed Fury. “Then he will fight again on the 4th of June [in Liverpool] and then on the [Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko] undercard as well. He’s going to be busy. BoxNation are right behind him so we give them maximum credit—they’ve also stumped up for big fights recently.”

Kassi has lost to the likes of Lionel Butler (L SD 6 in 2009), Amir Mansour (L KO 7 in 2014) and Dominic Breazeale (L 10 last September) as well as drawing with Chris Arreola (MD over 10 in July), but many felt that he deserved the nod in at least one of his last two outings.

He will present Fury with the opportunity to get more rounds under his belt, which is a key factor for the Furys as Peter believes that his son needs to glean as much ring experience as possible before taking a step up to world level.

The 36-year-old fits the bill, he is known for doing the rounds, as was Fury's previous foe Domick Guinn (W 10 in March), and should add to the 85 pro rounds that Fury already has on his professional CV.

“I’m bitterly disappointed,” said Saunders. “I was really looking forward to making the first defence of my world title against Max Bursak but this is boxing and these things happen. Now it’s all about recovering properly and looking forward to a big 2016.”

“I’m aiming to make a big impact in the next few years and join my cousin Tyson at the very top of the sport,” stated Fury. “I’m delighted to be featuring on BoxNation again, I’ve boxed on their shows in the past and really enjoyed the experience.”

He added: “This is the first title I’ll be going for so I’m buzzing to get in there and do the business. I was straight back in the gym after my win over Dominick Guinn and I’m feeling fit and ready to go again.”

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