By Ian S Palmer
Former unbeaten Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury of England finally returns to the ring after last fighting in November of 2015. Fury upset Wladimir Klitschko that day and took the IBF, WBO, IBO, and WBA world titles. Of course, he was then stripped of the belts and suspended for drug use and is now hoping to land a future title shot against Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder. First off, he needs to get past Sefer Seferi of Macedonia in a 10-round bout at the Manchester Arena in England this Saturday, June 9th. Seferi last fought in March when he stopped Laszlo Hubert in the third round.
The 29-year-old Fury is one of the bigger heavyweights out there as he stands 6-feet-9-inches tall with a wingspan of 85 inches. He enters the ring with a perfect mark of 25-0 along with 18 Kos and has 146 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008. He has better-than-average power with a current knockout ratio of 72 per cent. Fury possesses some decent, but awkward boxing skills to go along with his power, but he has a questionable chin.
Fury’s biggest win was obviously against Klitschko, but it was a terrible fight for the fans and Klitschko basically gave his titles away by not engaging with Fury. Other than that, Fury has beaten some pretty good journeymen along the way such as Christian Hammer, Dereck Chisora, Joey Abell, Steve Cunningham, Kevin Johnson, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento and Vinny Maddalone. Since turning pro following a fine amateur career, Fury has also captured the English, Commonwealth, British, Irish, European, WBO Inter-Continental and WBO International Heavyweight Titles.
As for Seferi, most boxing fans may have never heard of him, but he’s a a 39-year-old cruiserweight with a record of 23-1 with 21 Kos to his name. His lone loss was a 10-round unanimous decision to Manuel Charr in September of 2016 when he stepped up in weight to challenge for the vacant WBA International Heavyweight Title. Other than Charr, it’s hard to recognize any of Seferi’s other opponents. He fights out of Switzerland now and has won the WBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight Title during his career.
Seferi turned pro in 2007 and has fought just 86 rounds since then. The reason Seferi has fought so few pro rounds is because of his power. He owns 21 stoppages in his 23 victories and has a current knockout ratio of 88 per cent. So, he has plenty of power and also owns a solid chin. These are ingredients to beat Fury, but as mentioned, he’s now 39 years old and is basically a cruiserweight. Unfortunately, Seferi’s height and reach are also unlisted, but he’s bound to have a disadvantage in both departments against Fury.
Prediction…
Fury will be working with trainer Ben Davison for this fight and he enters it after losing close to 150 lbs in weight. He’s obviously handpicked Seferi as his opponent since he has a good record on paper. However, Seferi has faced just one notable opponent up to now. Still, if Seferi just goes out to land a bomb or two on Fury’s chin he could be successful. Nothing will surprise me in this fight, but if Fury has any skills at all left in his body and his chin holds out he should take the fight.
