Tyson Fury wants to remind everyone he is the lineal heavyweight champion. He’s the man who beat the man, having defeated Wladimir Klitschko for the WBA, WBO and IBO titles by unanimous decision in November 2015. It was Klitschko’s first loss in 11 years.
But the new champion was plagued by bouts of depression and drug addiction and didn’t fight again for nearly three years. The colorful Fury made his return June 9, with a fourth-round TKO over an outclassed Sefer Seferi, and continues his comeback Saturday with a scheduled 10-round bout against former two-time heavyweight title contender Francesco Pianeta, of Germany, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The bout is part of a card headlined by Carl Frampton’s interim featherweight title defense against Luke Jackson. The bouts can be seen on Showtime Boxing’s Facebook page and Showtime YouTube beginning at 3:30 p.m. A replay will be televised on Showtime Extreme at 10 p.m.
Fury (26-0, 19 KOs) was stripped of his belts during his long absence. But with a win over Seferi, the United Kingdom native could get a title shot in his next bout, possibly against WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
“The old Tyson Fury is gone,” said the 6-foot-9 Briton. “The Tyson Fury from three years ago and beyond is finished. The new Tyson Fury is here now and my promise is to put on a good fight. I do want to win a world title again, so I have to raise my game. I’ve been out of the ring for three years nearly. It’s been challenging and a long, hard battle to get back to where I am.”
Wilder is in Belfast and raising a ruckus in hopes of landing a fight with Fury next spring. During the weigh-in, Wilder kept screaming his slogan, “Bomb Squad,” drawing the ire of Tyson’s brother, John Fury, who kept telling Wilder to “shut up” and who had to be restrained from going after the WBC champion.
Wilder had been chasing a fight with unified champion Anthony Joshua of the U.K., but the two couldn’t reach an agreement before Joshua penned a deal to defend against Alexander Povetkin on Sept. 22 at Wembley Stadium. Now Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) is chasing Fury.
“If I come through this then Wilder has a chance to fight me for the lineal championship,” Fury said. “I’m not the one who gets the chance to fight him. Let’s face it, he hasn’t really fought anybody. He has 40 fights and it is what it is. We’re not here to talk about Wilder at all. It may as well be a million years in the future. I’ve got to concentrate on this man in front of me [Pianeta]. I’m sure he wants to take my glory away from me.”
Pianeta (35-4-1, 21 KOs) is a 6-foot-5 southpaw with experience and goals of his own.
“I have a high opinion of Tyson,” Pianeta said. “I was very impressed with his win over Klitschko. He says he’s knocked out every southpaw he’s every faced. But we’ll see if he is able to do that Saturday night.”
Prediction: Fury by eighth-round KO.