By James Slater: Tyson Fury, the unbeaten British and Commonwealth heavyweight champ, has had a tough time finding a suitable opponent as far as his next fight goes. Reportedly, offers to David Price and Mike Perez were not returned (with Price saying he WILL face Fury, but all in good time) and with a couple of other names being bandied around but with nothing solid coming up. But now, according to The Belfast Telegraph, the 23-year-old big man has a name foe for his September 17th bout in Belfast: 32-year-old Nicolai Firtha.
The 6’6” approx 250-pound Firtha has a decent record at 20-8-1(8) and he has picked up a ton of experience. Having gone the distance with new “Regular” WBA heavyweight champ Alexander Povetkin quite recently, and having won one fight since then, “The Stone Man,” as Firtha is called, is feeling pretty confident. Can he test the unbeaten 6’9” British star?
Firtha has been stopped before, but not recently. The huge Tye Field’s stopped him in the 6th back in 2009, and before that, way back in 2006, Firtha suffered a pair of back-to-back TKO’s. But the man from Akron, Ohio has undeniable toughness and gameness. If he’s been in the gym, he should be able to give Fury an argument in the short-notice bout. A quick KO win by big Tyson would definitely be impressive, but I feel the fight at The Kings Hall, Belfast (to be seen on Chanel 5 in the U.K) will go at least a few competitive rounds.
I pick Fury to win either by late stoppage or on points in an interesting fight, possible slugfest. Fury can be hit himself, his defence still a work in progress, and he will be facing a man almost as big as himself in Firtha. At this stage in his pro career (and at short notice also) a good match-up for Fury.