By Ian S Palmer
England’s Hughie Fury returns to the ring at Newcastle Arena this Saturday, Oct. 16th when he takes on veteran Christian Hammer of Romania. The 12-round heavyweight bout can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Arena. Fury last fought in December when he beat Mariusz Wach by a 10-round unanimous decision while Hammer was last in the ring in May when he stopped Patryk Kowoll in the third round.
Fury, who was born in Stockport, is of course the cousin of Tyson Fury. He’s now 27 years old and has been taking on journeymen and aging veterans since making his pro debut in 2013 as he’s more or less living off of his last name. He’s boxed a total of 155 rounds against the likes of Wach, Pavel Sour, Samuel Peter, Sam Sexton, Fred Kassi, Dominick Guinn, Larry Olubamiwo, Andriy Rudenko and Matthew Greer.
When he did step up in class against Joseph Parker for a shot at his WBO Heavyweight Title in September, 2017 he held his own, but dropped a majority decision. He didn’t look impressive at all against Kubrat Pulev in October, 2018 either and also lost a 12-round unanimous decision to Alexander Povetkin when stepping up in class again in 2019. Fury’s now 25-3 with 14 Kos with the defeats coming to Parker, Pulev and Povetkin, who incidentally all have last names beginning with the letter P.
Fury enjoyed a pretty good amateur career and stopped Sam Sexton in five rounds in May, 2018 to win the British Heavyweight Title. He’s been mainly successful as a pro due to his size as he stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 80-inch wingspan. Along with winning the British Heavyweight Title, Fury has also captured the WBO Inter-Continental Belt.
Actually, Fury’s quite mobile in the ring but often slaps pity-pat punches instead of letting them go with power and that’s perhaps why his current knockout ratio stands at an average 50 per cent. He’s displayed a solid chin so far but hasn’t really needed it yet against most of his opponents. In reality, Fury isn’t considered championship material by most and never will be unless he can beat a current top-10 contender rather than journeymen and those in the twilight of their careers.
The 34-year-old Hammer fights out of Germany and climbs through the ropes with a record of 26-7 with 15 Ko’s. He also has average power with a knockout ratio of 48.5 per cent. He stands just over 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 78-inch reach so gives up 3.5-inches in eight and two inches in reach to Fury. He’s boxed 191 rounds since turning pro in 2008.
Hammer has faced some pretty good opposition over the years by taking on the likes of Fury’s cousin Tyson Fury as well as Luis Ortiz, Alexander Povetkin, Tony Yoka, David Price, Kevin Johnson, Danny Williams, Michael Sprott, Sherman Williams, Michael Wallisch and Mariusz Wach. He’s lost just four of his last 23 fights but has dropped three of his past seven.
His first defeat since 2011 was to Tyson Fury in February, 2015 when the contest was halted at the end of the eighth round and he dropped a unanimous decision to Povetkin in Dec, 2017. His other career losses came against Wach by sixth-round KO in 2010, Taras Bidenko by sixth-round majority decision in 2010, a 10-round unanimous decision to Ortiz in 2019, by first-round stoppage to Robert Gregor in his pro debut back in 2008 and a 10-round unanimous decision to Yoka last November.
Since he’s been stopped in three of his seven defeats and has been dropped several other times he has a questionable chin. Still, Hammer’s a solid European-level boxer and former German and WBO Heavyweight European Champion with plenty of experience and could be somewhat underrated, but will need to be at his very best to beat Fury.
Prediction…
Hammer has never been top-10 material during his career but he is a solid pro. He’s seven years older than Fury though and on the downside of his career. Fury is expected to win this fight but it’s another sideways step in his career. If Hammer is at his absolute best he could give Fury some trouble, but if he’s not in top form I’m expecting Fury to take it.
