Leading heavyweight prospect Hughie Lewis Fury battled a nine-month layoff, recent health issues and a significant step-up in class on Saturday night (February 21) in Monte Carlo to outscore Ukraine’s Andriy Rudenko over ten rounds on the stacked ‘Thunderbolt in Monaco’ show.

The gifted 20-year-old took a calculated risk in deciding to face Rudenko, a veteran of 25 professional fights, but showed it was the right move to make by bagging a unanimous decision victory at the bout’s conclusion. What’s more, he travelled the full ten rounds for the first time as a pro and, in doing so, was able to demonstrate the full range of his repertoire.

He also had to show respect for Rudenko. The heavy puncher from Dnipropetrovsk had, after all, achieved 16 of his 24 wins via knockout and was known to typically end fights within the scheduled distance.

That in mind, Fury was on his guard early, cautious not to fall into any traps, before settling down and using his superior boxing skills and athleticism to rack up points on the scorecards. In the end, the victory was beyond any doubt. The judges scored 98-92, 98-91 and 97-92 all in his favour.

With the win, he moved to 15-0 (8 KOs). The future looks bright for another member of the fighting Fury clan.