Hughie Fury Faces Esequiel Zarate Nov 14
Hughie Fury, lil’ cousin of even bigger Tyson Fury, will be returning to action tomorrow night on the undercard of Nick Blackwell’s British title defense against Jack Arnfield. This fight appeared out of nowhere, so this news is pretty fresh even to myself, to be honest.
So, with that said, we can assume this is more of a stay-busy fight for the 21-year-old Heavyweight prospect than a legitimate test. And after now skimming over Esequiel Zarate’s record, that’s not too bold a statement to make, either.
The Argentine’s veteran 18-14-3, 9 KOs record is littered with recent defeats, many of which came against prospect-types. Yes, there are prospects in the Heavyweight division, folks.
At least Fury vs Zarate isn’t the main event, though, right? Here’s what Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessy had to say about the 6’ 6” mountain:
“Hughie Fury is a fantastic young heavyweight talent who is looking more impressive than ever in training. He’s had a great 2015 so far, beating a couple of durable and dangerous heavyweights, and next year will be gunning for titles.
“He’s very hard to match right now, though, as a lot of top heavyweights are turning down the chance to fight him.
“They know how good he is. He had great pedigree in the amateur ranks, winning a World Youth Amateur Championship, and is now showing that same pedigree in the pros. I’m very excited that the Channel 5 viewers get to see his progression.”
Nonito Donaire & Felix Donaire Back on Dec 11
If you’re a fan of exciting, explosive fighters, chances are you follow the likes of four-division champ Nonito Donaire and hot prospect Felix Verdejo. They won’t be sharing a ring together, but they will both be featuring on a December 11th card.
The Top Rank promoted event, which will air live on truTV, will see Donaire squaring off against Cesar Juarez in a scheduled 12-rounder, while Verdejo will take on Josenilson Dos Santos in a 10-rounder.
Forgive me for not having had time to take an in-depth look into these match-ups. Hey, it’s been a busy week, all right…
So, all I can only really offer is the basics here, which is to say Donaire is currently 33-3, 23 knockouts going into his Junior Featherweight encounter with Cesar Juarez, who stands at 17-3, 13 knockouts. Vergejo will enter his Lightweight contest 18-0, 13 knockouts, and Dos Santos 27-3, 17 knockouts.
In Other Boxing News
HBO Viewership Continues to Dip
You might be bored of hearing about network ratings, but it is boxing news-related. So deal with it! As you already know, Timothy Bradley put in a punch-perfect performance against Brandon Rios at the weekend, outworking, gunning, knocking out, and even retiring Rios from boxing for good.
But that doesn’t mean the numbers for the event were anything spectacular. Nope. According to Nielson, Bradley-Rios averaged at 910,000 viewers, peaking at 1.03 million. It doesn’t sound too awful, but when compared to the average viewership of Bradley-Vargas (1.12 million) and Bradley-Chaves (966,000), it doesn’t look too great.
And yeah, the Alabama-LSU college football game drawing in an average of 1.1 million on the same night probably didn’t help matters, either.
Diego De La Hoya to Headline Nov 20 Card
Finally, Diego De La Hoya will be returning to action on November 20th at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas. The unbeaten rising star will be taking on Mexico’s Giovanni Delgado in an 8-rounder which will broadcast live on Estrella TV.
Going in, De La Hoya carries a record of 12-0, 7 knockouts, while Delgado comes in with 15-3, 9 knockouts to his name.
Give us your take on today’s boxing news in the comments. Will you be catching Hughie Fury in action tomorrow night, plus Donaire and Verdejo on December 11th?
