BY TOMMY WATT

WBO HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD TITLE

WHEN: Saturday 23rd September
WHERE: Manchester Arena

JOSE PH HUGHIE
R
VS

PA R K E M P IO N
FURY
NO 1 CHA
CH A LLENGER

COUNTRY

245.5 LBS WEIGHT 231 LBS

193 CM REACH 203 CM

198 CM HEIGHT 193 CM

18/9/1994 DOB 9/1/1992

ORTHODOX STANCE ORTHODOX

FIGHT RECORD
23 0 0 20 0 0
WINS LOSS DRAW WINS LOSS DRAW

23 TOTAL FIGHTS 20

18 KNOCKOUTS 10

111 ROUNDS 92

27-8 (ESTIMATED) AMATEUR REC 37-8 (ESTIMATED)

WON NZ GOLDEN GLOVES, WON JUNIOR ABA TITLE,
COMMONWEALTH SCHOOL BOY CHAMPIONSHIP,
SILVER MEDAL AIBA YOUTH WORLD CHAMPION

78% KNOCKOUT
PERCENTAGE

50% KNOCKOUT
PERCENTAGE

LAST THREE OPPONENTS

JOSEPH PARKER

NAME Razvan Cojanu NAME Andy Ruiz Jr NAME Alexander Dimitrenko

DATE 2017-05-06 DATE 2016-12-10 DATE 2016-10-01
RECORD W 16 L 2 D 0 RECORD W 29 L 0 D 0 RECORD W 38 L 2 D 0
RESULT W-UD RESULT W-MD RESULT W-KO

HUGHIE FURY

NAME Fred Kassi NAME Dominick Guinn NAME Larry Olubamiwo

DATE 2016-04-30 DATE 2016-03-26 DATE 2015-12-05
RECORD W 18 L 4 D 1 RECORD W 35 L 10 D 1 RECORD W 11 L 18 D 0
RESULT W-TD RESULT W-PTS RESULT W-TKO

CORNERS

KEVIN BARRY PETER FURY

New Zealand light heavyweight Kevin Barry
was the silver medal winner at the 1984
Olympics. Barry never turned professional
but remained active in boxing as a trainer
and manager. Barry has trained several
World Champions including IBF super
featherweight world champion Robbie Peden,
WBA middleweight world champion Maselino
Masoe and WBA light heavyweight world
champion Beibut Shumenov.
It cant be denied that this has been one of the
greatest years for British boxing in history.
Anthony Crolla two weeks ago became Great
Britains ninth full world champion. More than
boxing superpowers Japan, Mexico and the
United States. The final ingredient was mixed
into this wondrous cake when Lancastrian
Tyson Fury defeated the unified heavyweight
champion of the world Wladimir Klitschko
away from home by unanimous decision.

DID YOU KNOW?

l First heav yweight boxer from either
New Zealand or the Pacific Islands to l Cousin of former unified
win a major World Championship Heavyweight Champion,
l Goes by the high Tyson Fury
chief name of Lupesoliai l Britains first ever
Laauliolemalietoa Super-Heavyweight
Youth World Champion
(amateur)
l Had his first
amateur fight
aged 11

GAME PLAN
STENGTH
Parkers best attribute is
undoubtedly his athleticism,
one of the smaller of the
current crop of gargantuan
heavyweights, Parker has
used his speed and power
to overcome much larger
opponents on his way to the
top. Parker came in very
heavy against Cojanu and
it showed, expect him to be
leaner again this time around.
Hughie Furys strength,
much like his cousin, comes
from his awkwardness and
outstanding footwork and
technique for such a big man.
Whilst not quite as rangey
as his familial stable-mate,
Hughie boasts an outstanding
work-rate and, having been
fighting since the age of 11, is
highly composed in between
the ropes.

WEAKNESSES
Footwork. Parker, for all his
hand-speed and athleticism,
can be a little cumbersome
on his feet and can find it
hard to establish his range
with an opponent that moves
as much as Fury will and this
can lead to a lack of activity
in attack as he chases down
opponents or can lead to him
forcing attacks from poor
positions, leaving him open to
counters.
Power. There is no doubting
that the Manchester fighter
has an abundance of skill in
the ring but with only a 50%
KO ratio on his ascension to
his first World Title challenge
indicates he doesnt possess
the power to worry the very
best in the division

STRATEGY
Simply put Parker needs to
impose himself on the fight
early on, if he allows Fury
to take the early rounds and
build some momentum this
could be a very frustrating
night indeed for the young
Kiwi. I would expect trainer
Kevin Barry to have his man
cutting off the rnig early
on and imposing his power
and hand-speed. Cutting off
the ring will be easier said
than done but backing his
opponent up to the ropes will
be the best way to keep him
in range.
I would expect Fury to do
what he does best in this
fight, we have seen that
coach Peter Fury is a master
tactician and he will be going
into this fight with the game-
plan to keep Hughie moving
around the ring, picking
off the slower and more
predictable Parker. Hughies
ascent has been littered with
tough, difficult to break down
opponents and this has all
been in preparation of a test
such as this, he is more than
capable of going the distance
and having seen Parker
struggle to impress against
Cojanu, he will feel confident
in winning rounds by staying
active and awkward.

PREDICTION

Parker comes into this fight as a slight favourite (best price 1.8 at time of publication)
with Hughie Fury paying roughly 2.2 with most bookies. Close odds are to be expected
in World Ttle fights and these 2 are very evenly matched both physically and in terms
of their records.
If Parker comes in lighter than he did against Cojanu and is able to establish himself
early on then he has a strong chance at retaining his Title, however beating a Fury
on points is no easy feat and over the distance I would have to lean to Hughie fury,
especially with the backing of the UK fans.

PARKER BY KO OR FURY TO WIN ON

POINTS IF IT GOES THE DISTANCE.

Originally from the UK, Tommy set up the popular T2TBoxing

Channel on YouTube three years ago to help promote Boxing
in Australia and give Australian fighters and promoters
a platform to promote themselves on and reach a wider
audience, since then T2T have partnered with IFL TV in the
UK to reach a wider, global audience. Tommy also writes for
several online publications as well as his own site (T2TBoxing.