Hughie is a pure counter puncher and only comfortable on the back foot. So when you give him no openings to counter he is ****ed. Pulev kept distance pecking away and didn't cross the distance line so Hughie had nothing to counter. When Hughie tried to go on the front foot he looked so uncomfortable. He just couldn't find the range. He needs to get comfortable at mid range.
Pulev is a class fighter despite his age @Rainer , Klitschko was still a dangerous fighter at 41 and Povetkin at 39. In retrospect, I don’t think Hughie was stepped up sufficiently in the lead up to his title challenges. Not fighting for 17 months and then stepping in the ring with Parker was just stupid, especially as a 22 year old kid with a lack of big fight experience. No shame in losing to Pulev or Parker. He’ll come good, he’s defensively very slick. Just has to show more effective aggression and punch variety. The criticism at his lack of activity is justified and it’s stifling his development although he has tons of time.
He’s only a young lad, he’s not a write off yet. Whyte has shown that you can recover from defeat and get people talking about you again.
I always think the 'he's a young guy' needs to be tempered with the fact that he's also been a pro for more than six years. He made his debut before Joshua for example. In that sense, whilst he's young for a heavyweight, he's had plenty of time to adapt and already stepped up to world level twice. I think his career may just need something of a restart, but I don't think it helps at all to be so inactive. Imagine if Hughie had four fights in a year, and they were this guy, the Allen Price loser and winner then one of Dubois Gorman or Joyce. No guarantees but I agree with those saying there's no shame losing to Pulev; he could beat those and his career is suddenly flying. My fear is he'll fight once more before Christmas and it'll be back to stagnation again.
I suspect there's factors beyond the ring influencing Hughie's career choices. Him and his father have stayed loyal to Hennessy, which I think does them both credit. They've tried to get to the top without having to do the deal with either of the UK devils, which in turn has brought its own difficulties. They overreached to bring the Parker fight to Manchester, which in turn led them to take the Pulev fight that no-one else fancied. Hughie's no KO machine and likely relies on his boxing as the levels go beyond the Sexton's of this world. At British level they would be outbid on any purse by Warren and they may not fancy their chances on the cards in a Warren promotion against his guy, so given that he'd been out a long time with a bad injury the decision to vacate the British can at least be understood. As boxing fans there's still a lot to like. He does have skill and good movement for a big guy. There's many years in the past when he'd have been the standout UK HW. He's stayed loyal to the guy who helped him get his shot. That shows character and should be recognised. He's stepped up in Bulgaria against an experienced guy with all the cards on his side. When badly cut he stayed in there and gave it his best shot. So nothing wrong with the lads heart either. I like that Hennesy and Channel 5 are showing boxing free to air on UK TV and so should any fan who wants the sport to succeed here. Yes, even if their budgets are low and they dont have the money for the best opponents. I like that Hughie is trying to make it a different way than signing up with Queensbury or Matchroom. For a 25 year old HW who has had two title shots in the past 3 years to take an easy fight as a way back in the ring after a bad injury isn't the greatest sin against boxing this week let alone in recent memory. UK fans should get behind him.
I'm not sure staying with a promoter who routinely seems to do a bad job is worthy of praise in fairness.
I value loyalty in people. Not blind loyalty, if further down the line it's not working out and they go their separate ways then they part company for sure. However it's to their credit that they didn't bail after Hennessy pulled out all the stops to get the Parker fight in the UK. In any case Hughi, a guy with a style that isn't casual friendly, had a world title shot and a final eliminator for an AJ fight before the age of 25, so it's not as if he's been completely mishandled.
I do hope that after this fight, that Hughie fights at least 2-3 times this year as he needs to stay busy. He spends far too much time inactive and hopefully we see gradual step ups in opposition.
Povetkin v Pulev would be a great fight and I would favour the latter. You’re not gonna change my mind on Hughie and i’m not gonna change yours. Best to just agree to disagree.
This fight should not be taking place. I’ve watched some footage on this Norrad chap, and the 260th place ranking is generous at best. There is such a great skill set between the two fighters, that whoever set this up must be looking for a brutal KO win to get back on track(Pete). This Canadian is putting himself in great danger. He’s going from fighting friends of friends to a world class fighter. There should be some legal accountability for putting on such a great mismatch. Can’t wait to see the odds. £100 bet on Fury might net you £101
