World Heavyweight Title contender Hughie Fury has hailed the British and Irish Lions heroic performance against the mighty All Blacks and vows to emulate that by defeating New Zealand’s WBO World Champion Joe Parker in September.
The Manchester ace watched the crucial decider in the Test series at his hotel yesterday morning ahead of his own exhibition contest at the the Copper Box Arena and was gripped like the rest of the nation by the thrilling match.
With the series at 1-1, the third match proved to be the most exciting of all in a brutal showdown that went down to the wire and ended in a dramatic 15-15 score to end the series in a tie – the first time since 1955.
Inspired by that performance, Fury aims to continue the summer success of British sport when he takes on the fearsome and big-hitting Parker on Saturday 23rd September at the Manchester Arena in a potential thriller.
Like the world champion All Blacks were expected to easily brush aside the Lions, many feel that the thunderous punching Parker – who is undefeated in 23 fights with 18 knockouts and 12 inside three rounds – will be too much for Fury.
But Fury, who himself is undefeated in 20 fights with 10 knockouts, is relishing the underdog status and says it’s also like his cousin Tyson’s epic victory over long-reigning world champion Wladimir Klitschko.
“Watching the Lions put everything on the line, battling the All Blacks and fighting them until the end is a lesson for all of us to never give in,” Said Fury.
“I was stunned watching that and it really hit home about pushing yourself to the absolute physical limit and digging deep into yourself to find that little bit more to come through,”
“Nobody gave the Lions a shot a few months ago and they said they were going to get destroyed by the All Blacks, but by sheer determination, heart and will they defied the odds and came away with a ‘victory’ even though it was a draw,”
“That is something that I will take into my fight against Parker and prove all my doubters wrong,”
“People have dismissed me and said that I’ve fought nobody yet, but they don’t know what I’ve had to fight through and now this is my moment like the Lions to defeat the odds and become a world champion,”
“Who gave Tyson a chance when he went to Germany to take on Klitschko. He was written off by the majority of people, the team all believed in him, but when Tyson tore the titles away it was the sweetest moment,”
“Parker won’t be coming here to give it up without a fight. He’ll have all of New Zealand’s hopes on him to win, especially after the Lions result. He’s coming here to fight and keep onto that world title at all costs. I know what I’ve got to do to take it from him and I’ll do it.”
