A news story went up via Sky Sports yesterday, in which it was reported that Hughie Fury is close to fighting veteran contender Chris Arreola. BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom told Sky Sports that an Arreola fight is one they would like for Fury next and that Hughie is also looking at facing another big name next year, such as Dereck Chisora. Now, a news story from the Manchester Evening News has reported that the Fury-Arreola fight is “confirmed.”
There is still no date for the fight and it is not yet up on BoxRec and it would perhaps be surprising to see Arreola, closing in on his 41st birthday, agree to his UK debut so late in his career. Will Arreola even fight again, much less against 27 year old Fury, who is currently 26-3(15)? It would be an interesting fight if Arreola-Fury did happen.
“Peter Fury wants Arreola and we think that’s a great fight,” Shalom said to Sky Sports. “Arreola did really well against Andy Ruiz Jr. We think it’s time for Hughie to step up after an impressive win over (Christian) Hammer.”
Arreola, 38-7-1(33) would easily be the most experienced and accomplished fighter Fury has ever been in with to date (with the possible exception of Joseph Parker), and if the fight did happen Arreola would be confident he would have too much for Fury. But how much has Arreola got left in the tank at age 40? Having been in with everyone, from Vitali Klitschko to Deontay Wilder, from Adam Kownacki to Ruiz, “The Nightmare” has paid his dues. Maybe the offer of a nice payday will indeed lure Arreola over to the UK (maybe it already has)?
We will see. Stay tuned. But who wins if Fury does face Arreola, either late this year or early next? Arreola did look good against Ruiz when the two slugged it out in an action fight back in May. Maybe Arreola does have some bullets left after all. Fury, meanwhile, is not noted as an especially hard hitter. Again, this one is certainly an interesting prospective match-up.