Hughie Fury moves further to the true heavyweight elite when he faces ‘The Bounty’ Michael Hunter in a WBA heavyweight title eliminator in Manchester on Saturday July 2.
Hughie, cousin of WBC, Ring magazine and lineal heavyweight king Tyson Fury, is plotting his own path towards greatness in building a 26-3 record. That after a stern examination early in his career when he went in with some very tough opposition – his defeats so far have come at the hands of Joseph Parker, Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Povetkin.
Now he meets the much-avoided American Hunter (20-1-2) for the fight to lock horns with the winner of Trevor Bryan vs Daniel Dubois, which goes down in Miami on Saturday June 11. It’s worth remembering that Bryan is only the WBA regular heavyweight titlist – Oleksandr Usyk owns the biggest crown (the ‘super’ champion title). Confusing we know…
Hughie out since late 2021
Hughie, still only 27, has not been seen out since October 2021, when he forced Christian Hammer to retire from their showdown in Newcastle.
Hunter meanwhile is still seen by most as a top-10 heavyweight, despite a bump in the road in his last outing in late 2021. That saw him held to a draw by the tough Jerry Forrest.
Hunter though brings a formidable skillset and ring savvy to the table against Fury, and will likely start favourite to defeat the Brit in front of his home crowd in Manchester.
Hunter can mix it with the best
Michael has already shown he can mix it with the best after moving up from cruiserweight, fighting to a draw with the aforementioned Povetkin on the Joshua vs Ruiz 2 undercard in Saudi Arabia in late 2019.
The only defeat so far on Hunter’s resume is nothing to be ashamed of either – he dropped a decision vs now IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk in their cruiserweight title fight back in 2017.
The July 2 show will air live on Sky Sports in the UK, and should provide a fascinating evening of entertainment for domestic viewers.