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Heavyweight prospect Tyson Fury and his management team have secured a shot at the English title against ‘Big Bad’ John McDermott on September 15.
Fury, standing 6ft 9, has been making quite the name for himself since stepping out into the pro scene in December, namely by stopping all of his opponents thus far, and he seems very accustomed to ‘talking the talk’.
Of course, being unbeaten and touted by many, Fury is a cocky guy but the kind of heavyweight that we all love; He’s big, brash, loud, has a load of charisma, solid boxing skills, and can certainly bang.
He does command a good turn out when he fights and has been trying to secure any kind of title shot he could get his hands on since his pro debut; such is his level of confidence.
Fury’s record stands at 7-0 with 7 KO’s, with some good domestic names on his resume such as Lee Swaby, Scott Belshaw and Matthew Ellis, with Swaby taking the longest to hold off the attack before succumbing in the fourth, and Ellis being beaten in 48 seconds of the first round.
With such a young career, some might deem this too big a mountain for Fury to climb, as his opponent McDermott goes into the fight with a record of 25-5 with 16 of those wins by way of KO.
Fury does have some amateur experience, credited with representing both Ireland and England at an international level, and winning a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships.
At the Senior National Championships, Fury faced future Olympic Bronze Medal winner David Price, and despite knocking him down, Fury lost on points. A year later, they faced off again to see who would represent Great Britain in the Beijing Olympics, and we now know Price won, but in his absence, Fury became national ABA champion in 2008.
Still, Fury will need to muster up all that amateur seasoning when he steps in with ‘Big Bad’ McDermott, as John has his own fair share of experience to bring to the table, having faced Danny Williams twice, beating Scott Gammer over 10 rounds and knocking out hardened veteran Pele Reid in two rounds.
McDermott is extremely well schooled, and is one tough cookie. He almost took Williams out in the middle of their first encounter, with the referee giving Williams the benefit of the doubt, however no-one would have argued had it of been stopped.
McDermott is a careful fighter with a good defence who will soak up a few shots to get inside and cause damage on the counters with short straight powerful right hands, he also has a good solid jab to work his way in as well, not to mention a huge heart and a respectably solid chin.
On the Fury side of the argument, there is most definitely more flair to his work and more aggression, but saying that, he has not has the same level of opponents as McDermott, nor the sheer number of foes…by quite a margin.
It will be an exciting encounter none-the-less, with Fury’s height and reach becoming a major factor in the fight, keeping McDermott on the outside and throwing uppercuts and hooks when McDermott tries to close the gap. Fury also goes to the body very well, something McDermott has been susceptible to in past fights, and he’s been known to tire down the stretch.
The repertoire of work and the confidence that Fury has will become too much for McDermott in this long drawn out war and Fury should stop McDermott late in the fight.
