Hennessy Sports and Duco Promotions are delighted to announce that the highly anticipated showdown between British and Irish heavyweight star Hughie Fury and the WBO World Heavyweight Champion Joseph Parker will take place on Saturday 23rd September at the Manchester Arena.
Fury, the WBO #1 ranked and mandatory challenger, faces the hard-punching Parker in a thrilling match-up in boxing’s flagship glamour division between the undefeated young stars that has the potential to be one of the Fights of the Year.
Parker, the reigning and unbeaten WBO Champion said, “I’m excited that the next defence of my WBO World Title will be in England because it is now the home of heavyweight boxing and I need to be fighting there regularly. David has done a fantastic job of getting me the deal I want to fight in Manchester. Fighting away from home holds no fears for me. I will arrive having previously fought on the undercard of a Wladimir Klitschko world title fight in Germany and also twice in America. I believe that with so many kiwis and Samoans living in the UK, I may even have more supporters in the crowd on fight night than Hughie Fury.”
Manchester’s Fury said, “I’ve waited so long for this chance and my team have worked very hard to get me this fight and I’d like to thank everyone involved. I’m going to shock the world and prove all my doubters wrong and what better place to do it than in my home city of Manchester. Parker is a good fighter and I’ve no doubt we’ll both bring our A-game on fight night. The fight’s on! I can’t wait to be crowned world champion.”
Hennessy Sports CEO Mick Hennessy, promoter of Fury, said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to secure the fight in Manchester for Hughie and I believe that right now this is the best place in the world for boxing, especially if you’re a heavyweight, which is why Parker is so eager to fight here. In my career as a promoter, this is right up there and very personal to me and we look forward to delivering a fantastic event for the fans. Hughie is an exceptional young talent and I’ve got every confidence that he will become the new WBO World heavyweight Champion.”
Peter Fury, father and trainer of Hughie, said, “Myself and Hughie are very pleased that the fight for the WBO World Title is now signed and even more thrilled the fight’s going to be in Hughie’s home town of Manchester in September. Hughie is a dedicated fighter and will be bringing the belt back home to the Fury family. We are all very excited about the news and training is already under way. Hughie is an outstanding talent in the heavyweight division and at just 22 is a rising star in world boxing and will prove to many on fight night he is one of the best in the world.”
David Higgins from Duco Promotions commented, “Peter and I have been able to bury the hatchet very quickly despite the Furys not coming to New Zealand on May 6. The goodwill between both parties has been such that we were always going to come to a deal which was mutually beneficial. I never once during negotiations felt this fight would end up in purse bid”.
Fury has recovered from the back injury that caused the date of the original fight against Parker on May 6th in Auckland to be postponed and will first feature at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday 8th July before challenging Parker.
He was last in action on April 30th last year when he defeated Fred Kassi to win the WBO Intercontinental title on a seventh round Technical Decision following a clash of heads that opened a bad cut over Fury’s left eye.
The 22-year-old hotshot, cousin of the former Undisputed and current Ring Magazine World Heavyweight Champion Tyson, has a perfect record of 20 wins and 10 knockouts with 8 coming inside the first three rounds.
Aukland’s Parker created history when he became New Zealand’s first ever world heavyweight champion by defeating Andy Ruiz Jr. on points to win the Vacant WBO title in a thrilling night in December last year and become a national hero.
He currently holds an immaculate 23-fight record with 18 knockouts, 12 of those were inside three rounds and has held the WBO Oriental and Africa titles amongst other regional belts.
The 25-year-old defended his title for the first time last month against the tough and awkward Romanian Razvan Conjanu – who replaced the injured Fury – by unanimous decision.