A Rational Analysis of Hughie Fury's Performance against Pulev

I'll start off by admitting that I got my prediction well wrong. I thought Hughie was all wrong for Pulev but the Bulgarian, PEDs or no PEDs, boxed a good fight.

Firstly I think Hughie is a credit to the sport. 24-years old and he went out to Bulgaria and took his defeat in a dignified manner. Peter Fury revealed after the fight that Hughie's cut (caused by Bakole in sparring) was not even close to healing by the time of the fight. They asked for a postponement but Pulev's team warned them that they will force a replacement opponent if Fury backed out of the fight so true to the Warrior's Code, they took the fight anyway with Hughie already wounded. Big Peter and Hughie make no excuses. They are true fighting men.

I thought Hughie boxed the wrong fight but what do you expect when he was vilified for his approach against Parker. He was scored very harshly by judges. He could have done the exact same thing against Pulev and floated around the ring but he had zero chance of getting a decision in Bulgaria so there's no surprise from me that he was looking for the one punch KO. The wrong approach in hindsight but then the very bad cut early on just made it worse. He had no choice but to look for the KO but approached it all wrong. A lesson learned.

He'll come again. We've seen that he holds a shot really well. 24 rounds against Parker and Pulev and he didn't look close to being hurt and he hurt Pulev badly in the eighth round.

If I was managing Hughie I would chase a fight against Dave Allen. A really easy win and a fight that would give him exposure on a PPV undercard on Sky. Then mount a challenge again for a mandatory shot because no champion will go near him for a voluntary.

It was a bitterly disappointing night on Saturday but Big Peter and Hughie did Britain proud. No arguments, took the fight wounded and conducted himself well throughout. There's no harm in losing to Pulev and Parker, both are good lessons learned. He wasn't hurt in either fight so no damage has been done. At 24 this experience will be invaluable. He needs to work on his jab, his timing and his handspeed.

 

Precisely. I was so frustrated watching him try the same trick - the Sexton KO punch - every single round. He needed to mix it up, feints, double and triple jabs, body shots etc. Played right into Pulev's hands, although Puley got his gameplan spot on, boxing in spurts.

I agree, the next few fights are critical. There's no point gaining these lessons in defeat if he doesn't have the right opponents to apply these lessons learned. One thing I'm very concerned about is that Hughie slurs his words a little. I doubt he will be able to box past 30 tbh. For that reason, his management needs to be smart. 24 is young but not when you have a **** ton of miles on the clock.

 

Fury has the ability to completely bust up Allen and barely ship a single shot. It's the perfect fight to throw himself back into the limelight. Maybe then he can get a fight with Price. He needs to be in the limelight, I don't want to see him box obscure Europeans.

 

Yeah pretty much on the money.

I do still feel Hughie has decent power. He had Pulev all over the place in the eighth but Pulev is a veteran and knows how to ride it out. It was just terrible watching him try the same trick over and over. No fighter hits hard when the punches are so telegraphed. Much work for Peter to do in the gym, now we'll see if he's really as good a trainer as he's heralded to be by some (and me).

 

I was thinking about that fight but I don’t think it’s the right fight for Hughie. I want to see him matched against come forward fighters at home. Would be a good belt for Hughie but Kabayel is still an unknown quantity to an extent. Chisora is a comfortable win for any slickster with a jab really.

 

I’m a fan of Hughie so I guess it’s different for me. I have a lot of faith in him and have hyped him a fair bit.