NOT unlike being at school, sometimes in boxing the unpopular kids are forced to group together and find a table in the lunch hall at which they can all sit and experience something close to comfort.
For Hughie Fury and Michael Hunter, two of the least fashionable heavyweights circa 2022, it makes sense to adopt this same approach: stay close, stay ready, look out for each other. The queues to fight them have, after all, been frustratingly short, with few eager to enjoy their company, and itโs maybe for this reason their career paths will converge on July 2, when they ignore the rest โ those they claim ignored them โ to fight one another.
Though still to be officially announced, a fight between Fury and Hunter would appear a sensible one. Even if more intriguing than thrilling, it will, if nothing else, turn two avoided fighters into just one.
โThese are the fights I want,โ Fury told Boxing News. โHunter is an avoided man like myself. Nobody wants to fight him. But Iโm not the same as them. This is the sort of fight I have been chasing and want to take. Iโm more than happy with this fight. At the minute Iโm in the south of France and Iโm training hard and hoping it happens.โ
Should the fight take place, Fury, 26-3 (16), knows he will be sharing the ring with the best opponent he has boxed since losing against Alexander Povetkin in 2019, yet gets only motivation from this fact. He will know, too, that Hunter, 20-1-2 (14), bettered his own result against Povetkin โ drawing with the Russian in 2019 โ and that the 33-year-old American, known as โThe Bountyโ Hunter, has scored good wins at heavyweight against the likes of Sergey Kuzmin, Aleksandr Ustinov and Martin Bakole.
โIโve watched him over the years and heโs no mug,โ Fury said. โHeโs come up from cruiserweight, so he has fast hands, and you just have to be switched on with him. He drew his last fight against Jerry Forrest, a southpaw, but heโs been winning for the most part. Iโve seen some of those wins and know what I need to do to beat him but Iโll let my fists do the talking on the night. Thereโll be a big difference in size but Hunter comes to fight and I think it will be a case of last man standing.โ
In terms of his own career, Fury, despite his low-key demeanour and awkward style, has still been given opportunities, notably against Povetkin, and Kubrat Pulev, and Joseph Parker, whom he boxed for the WBO title in 2017. He came up short in each of those fights, losing respectably on points, and has since then struggled to find opportunities of equal value.
โNo one wants to fight me. Itโs tough,โ he said. โYou get a fight and just have to take each day as it comes. You never know when that fight is going to get cancelled or the opponent will pull out. Itโs not easy to get the fights I want. It never has been.
โItโs obvious [why he is avoided]. With the fights I had at a young age, although I lost, nobody was able to do what they wanted with me. It was man against boy and the losses I suffered were because of this. I was lighter and not as experienced. I was a young kid. But now Iโm a man, with proper man strength, and these guys know that.โ
One man happy to fight Fury was Christian Hammer, whom Fury stopped after five rounds โ a retirement stoppage โ last October. That night, in the process of breaking Hammer down, Fury seemed to be punching with more authority and purpose than usual, perhaps aware of the need to start entertaining if he is to secure the fights he so desperately craves.
โIt was easy and I was fairly relaxed,โ he recalled. โIt was a shame I couldnโt get more rounds in. I would have knocked him out, 100 per cent, but he retired before I had the chance to do that.
โIn that fight the plan was to plant my feet and let my shots stick in a bit more as the fight went along. I did that, I thought, and you could see Hammerโs eyes rolling at times. But heโs a clever man. He pulled out of the fight and fought a couple of months later [on January 1 against Frank Sรกnchez]. He knew he would have got stopped by me, so saved himself for another day.โ
A pro for nine years, itโs strange to think Hughie Fury is still just 27 years old and therefore, historically speaking, only just entering his prime as a heavyweight contender. However, it is the case and Fury is determined that the best of him has yet to be seen.
โIโm very experienced,โ he said. โWhat Iโve done and what Iโve gone through, itโs been a lot. Iโve taken every opportunity that has come my way and fought everyone I could and that stands me in good stead now. Iโve been in with a lot of different fighters, and a lot of different styles, and I know what to expect now. Nothing is going to shock me in the ring.
โThis is my time to show the world what I can do. Iโve had all my learning experience and now itโs time to move on to that next chapter. This fight against Hunter is the fight I need to do just that.โ