By James Slater: It looks as though unbeaten British heavyweight hope Tyson Fury, 11-0(9), will meet his first American opponent in his next fight – set for York Hall, London next month. According to BBC Sport and Boxrec, the 6’7” Fury, still only 22, will make his American T.V debut on Showbox: the new generation, on September 10th – against tough and experienced 33-year-old Jason Gavern of Virginia.
So far, in a heavily hyped pro career that began in December of 2008, Fury has met only European fighters. But now, Fury clearly feels he is ready for at least a reasonable step up in class. Gavern, though, may be a tougher opponent that Team-Fury thinks.
At 19-7-4(8), Gavern may not have an overly impressive record, but numbers can be deceiving. And though he will be giving away a fair amount of height and weight against Fury (6’2” and approx 225 to Fury’s 6’7” and approx 260-pounds), Gavern has been stopped just once in his seven-year pro career (by the unbeaten Denis Boytsov last October), and he has been in with a number of good fighters.
Last time out, back in May on the Klitschko-Sosnowski card in Germany, Gavern held Detroit’s Johnathan Banks to a draw, and before that “The Sensation” upset contender Manuel Quezada (the man who recently took Chris Arreola the distance). Clearly, Gavern has been in with better fighters than has Fury, and he also represents the most serious test yet for the Manchester prospect.
The September fight mark the first action Gavern has seen in England, but it’s unlikely the older man will be phased by the bout’s location. Fury is still a work in progress, and last time out, against John McDermott, he appeared to be on the verge of real exhaustion before finding the fight-ending punch in the 9th-round. Admittedly, Fury and “Big Bad John” fought inside a swelteringly hot arena, but if Gavern has seen a tape of the June fight, he will surely feel he has a great chance of handing the big man with his first defeat.
It will be interesting to see how the U.S audience takes to Fury; a fighter who has already had a ton of exposure via the internet. Will Gavern take him to a place he’s never been before and “expose” Fury, or will the American T.V fans get to see the 22-year-old take a big step towards doing what he says he will and become a contender for the world title?
Gavern’s last fight, against Banks, was one helluva dull affair, but the September bout doesn’t figure to fall into the stinker category. Fury always looks for the KO, and Gavern can rumble also. Scheduled for just eight-rounds, Fury Vs. Gavern may go down to the wire.
Fury has to be looked at as the favorite, but Gaven has torn up the script before and it would be no massive surprise if he did so again; this time in his U.K debut. I go for Fury to win a hard-fought decision. Just.