Hughie Fury’s old school training camp

Credit:  Photos by Hennessy Sports/Karen Priestley –

WBO heavyweight title challenger Hughie Fury has based himself at a spartan-style training camp at Lake Windermere as he heads into the biggest fight of his life against undefeated WBO champion Joseph Parker. Fury has set up camp in the mountains with his father and trainer Peter for his showdown with Parker on Saturday 23rd September at the Manchester Arena.

While thousands of tourists and holiday makers enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the Lake District, Fury is experiencing the flip side and is putting his body and mind through hell in the rough and brutal surrounding terrain to become the first man to beat Parker.

The 22-year-old Manchester star is going through a daily grueling schedule of long mountain runs and sprints, log chopping, free climbing mountains and lake swimming sessions, alongside sparring and boxing gym session and believes that this will give him the extra edge to become the new WBO world champion.

“We’ve come up here just to do runs in the past and we’ve always said that this would be a fantastic place to set up a training camp and what better time than now for the world title fight against Parker,” said Fury, the undefeated WBO mandatory and number one ranked challenger.

“This is absolutely perfect for me, I love the outdoors and the fresh air and the feeling of getting back-to-basics is getting the very best out of me. The greats of boxing like Ali, Dempsey and Louis all did it this way, in modern times we’ve all gone scientific with boxing training, but there’s a lot to be said about training the old way and I feel fitter and stronger than ever before.”

“I’m training at altitude with my some of the mountain runs leaving my lungs burning, I’m pulling tires attached to my back on uphill sprints, free climbing up the side of mountains that leave my arms and fingers burning and then I’m going for endurance swims and sprints in the freezing lakes.”

“Then there’s the log chopping, it used to be common place for boxers to do this in the past, but it seems to have died out with some boxers going all body beautiful with weights in the gym. It strengthens every muscle in your body from your hamstrings, calves, quads and gluts to your abs, lats, traps, deltoids and pecs while working my cardiovascular endurance,”

“When the hard training is done for the day, then I can just rest and look out at the stunning and peaceful scenery around me, but strangely focus my mind on smashing Parker to bits and tearing the world title away from him,”

“I know that wherever he is training now he’s putting himself through the same to keep hold of his title, but that is pushing me every day to train twice as hard and go through my physical and mental limits. I know that on the 23rd September he won’t have an answer to what I’ve got.”

 Photo: Hennessy Sports/Karen Priestley

Peter is overseeing his son’s training and implementing the fight strategy to defeat the fearsome puncher Parker who has 18 KOs from 23 fights. 

He masterfully guided his nephew Tyson to his stunning victory over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, who had not been defeated in nearly 11 years, to become the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion and believes Hughie can pull off a similar feat against Parker.

“Ali trained at Deer Lake and many of the greats trained at Big Bear in California, more recently Gennady Golovkin. The benefits are ten-fold training here in Lake Windermere. It’s the best way to train, it’s outdoor, non-polluted, rigorous mountain runs, quarries, tree and log chopping, lakes for swimming, it’s got everything we need. Then we’ve got tremendous indoor facilities as well with the local boxing gym in Windermere and Choices Spa and Health club in Troutbeck Bridge. Hughie will be in the best shape of his life against Parker and more than prepared. Everything thing we do is to win and he’ll be the new WBO World Champion.”

www.fightnews.com/hughie-furys-old-school-training-camp/1832

WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (23-0, 18 KOs), 24 years old, is hoping to get in the ring with the other beltholders in the division to unify all of the titles.

At the moment, Anthony Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) holds the WBA, IBO, IBF world titles and Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) is the WBC champion.

Parker will return in September, when he heads to Manchester to face undefeated mandatory challenger Hughie Fury, who is the undefeated cousin of former world champion Tyson Fury.

Parker believes the upcoming contest, which takes place at the Manchester Arena in September 23, will help raise his profile in the division.

A big showcase on UK soil will certainly go a long way to building a potential 2018 showdown with Joshua, who right now is the biggest name in the heavyweight division.

“It’s alright. These other guys are fighting on that side of the world with all the exposure they get. New Zealand has got a small population to compare and for us to already have a world champion and now to start fighting, it’s a good step for us,” Parker said to Sport 360.

“It’s great to be a world champion, to achieve that goal that I set at a young age, but now I want to go on to do more, to create my own legacy. People don’t know me, but that’s all right. Hopefully they will soon. I want to show skills, bring excitement, pressure, be the fighter that everyone will remember.

“This is my chance in the UK to show what I can do. And I believe things happen when they are supposed to happen. Like every other heavyweight fighter I want to unify the belts, it’s a goal for me. It’s going to give me the motivation to train harder and focus. Just because you win one title, that’s not enough.”

Parker is very confident in his ability and is more than confident that he can topple both Joshua and Wilder – once he gets them the ring.

“I back myself to beat anyone. I don’t fear anyone and will fight anyone. The focus is of course on Hughie now and after that we will sit down and look to fight the other best fighters in the world,” Parker said.

www.boxingscene.com/joseph-parker-i-back-myself-beat-anyone-ill-fight-anyone–118714?print_friendly=1

The Director of Duco Events, David Higgins, has been left lamenting a double blow to the lead up to the Joseph Parker vs. Hughie Fury fight taking place in Auckland on May 6.

Hughie Fury’s father and trainer, Peter Fury, had his visa denied by New Zealand immigration on Wednesday morning due to a chequered past which saw him spend time in jail in the mid-nineties.

Higgins said it was a disappointment.

“We heard the news this morning, we’re a little disappointed of course but the fight’s going to go ahead as planned on May 6, Parker-Fury,” Higgins told Newshub.

Peter Fury is also trainer of nephew and former world champion Tyson Fury and while Higgins said his absence would be a blow to the Fury camp, it would ultimately make little difference into how Hughie performed in the fight.

“Hughie is unbeaten and an English amateur champion and he was trained by Peter Fury so he’s got those skills that Tyson Fury has. Peter Fury is the second best trainer in the world so you can’t underestimate what Hughie will bring. Hughie has fought without Peter in his corner before in New York, so we’ll see what happens.”

In addition to Wednesday’s developments, Higgins also revealed that the New Zealand Government had rejected Duco’s requests for sponsorship assistance.

“We did put in an application in quite comprehensive to look for some sponsorship support and in return the benefits of global promotion and everything that comes with it, we received a letter advising that no there would not be any support.”

The same situation occurred before the Andy Ruiz fight in December with the New Zealand Government refusing to offer assistance. Subsequently, Duco Events had to seek help from the Samoan Government.

And Higgins said the decision could maybe be put down to New Zealand not used to having a stronghold in a non-traditional sports market.

“I think what Joseph Parker’s achieved is pretty ground-breaking and its bringing viewership from countries that never knew New Zealand existed.

“New Zealand’s traditionally been strong in quite traditional Commonwealth sports like rugby and cricket but boxing is massive in other parts of the world; Eastern Europe, Latin America, parts of Asia as well as those traditional economies.

“It’s an Olympic sports, 150+ countries compete in it so it offers something quite different, maybe it’ll take more time for New Zealand to get used to what that means.”

www.boxingscene.com/parker-fury-still-go-ahead-despite-visa-issue-says-duco–114841?print_friendly=1

WBO World Heavyweight mandatory title challenger Hughie Fury will face the champion Joe Parker in Auckland, New Zealand, at the Vector Arena on Saturday 6th May, it was confirmed last night.

Undefeated Fury, from Manchester, will travel to the other side of the world as he looks to cause a massive upset against the similarly unbeaten and big-hitting Parker who is a superstar in his native homeland.

Fury aims to emulate cousin Tyson’s amazing feat of ending the reign of then division king Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 when he travelled to Germany and tore all the belts from the seemingly invincible Ukrainian.

The hard-hitting and highly-skilled 22-year-old, trained by father Peter, has a perfect record of 20 wins with 10 knockouts in a four-year career and captured the WBO Intercontinental title in his last fight against Fred Kassi. Fury had a glittering amateur career that culminated in winning Gold at the 2012 World Youth Championships – England’s first ever at super-heavyweight.

Parker became New Zealand’s inaugural World Heavyweight Champion when he won the WBO crown in December, defeating the previously unbeaten Andy Ruiz Jr for the vacant title at the Vector Arena with a very tight points decision. The 25-year-old is certainly heavy-handed after winning 18 of his 22 fights by knockout in a near five-year career.

It will be the first time in history that a recognised world heavyweight title has been defended in New Zealand and Parker versus Fury is expected to become the biggest boxing event ever staged in the country, with an expected global audience of over 100m.

Fury is not bothered with the hype and is fully focused on shaking the world up – just like Tyson – by defeating Parker, “I’m really looking forward to it and I just can’t wait! I feel great and I’ll be in the best shape my of life come fight night and you’ll see something special. It doesn’t matter what country the fight’s in, a boxing ring is a boxing ring to me, no matter where in the world. The result will be the same, a Hughie Fury victory and on May 6th you’ll be looking at the new WBO World champion.”

Despite the enormity of the event, Peter is confident that his son will rise against the odds and cause an upset. He said, “I see it as a very competitive fight between two of the best young heavyweights in the world today and the fans and media are certainly going to relish this one. Parker’s the World Champion and we’re going into his territory, but we’re fighting people through and through and this does not bother us. I see my son coming back home with the World Title.”

Mick Hennessy, CEO of Hennessy Sports, is backing his man to return home crowned the new WBO World Champion. He said, “Hughie is an exceptional talent who has been underestimated in his career. I know that the bigger the fight and the bigger the occasion, Hughie will rise to that challenge and Parker will bring out the very best in him. We’re under no illusions, this is a very hard test for Hughie, but I believe he will shine through.”

www.fightnews.com/Boxing/parker-vs-fury-set-may-6-nz-396757#more-396757

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing –

David Higgins of Duco Events, who is the co-promoter of WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, will be at WBO Head Office in San Juan, Puerto Rico on February 1 when the purse bid for Parker’s mandatory defense against WBO#2 Hughie Fury will be decided. Frank Warren, who is the promoter of Fury, is expected to be in Puerto Rico also when the envelopes are opened.

“The stakes are very high and it’s a nervous situation,” Higgins said. “You have to try and predict what the revenues are going to be and then bid the most you can. If you bid too much you could lose a lot of money very quickly. And if we don’t bid enough, we lose control. We want to fight in New Zealand because we want home advantage. Last year was an Olympic year and Joseph Parker was the most Googled of any New Zealander.

“I’d like to think there’s a better understanding now of how big it is especially now Joseph is world champion. That last fight was watched in 100 television markets. Nearly every sport you can name receives government support and given the fight would attract international visitors and profile you’d like to think it would be seriously considered. I don’t want to pre-empt anything but we probably will prepare a proposal and see if there’s a willingness to make it happen here in New Zealand.

“If he were to beat Hughie Fury his stocks in the UK go through the roof. That sets up a juicy unification bout with the winner of [Wladimir] Klitschko and Joshua. If Joe fought Joshua it would sell out Wembley – you’re talking 100,000 people and millions globally. That could be as soon as June.

“Alternatively you could have Tyson, Hughie’s cousin, calling for his belt back. Another option would be Wilder. That’s another possible unification. So by the end of this year, provided Joseph keeps winning, he could have been in two worldwide events and be a global superstar. But winning is the key in boxing.”