British heavyweight Hughie Fury travels into enemy territory on Saturday night in Bulgaria looking to relaunch his career against Kubrat Pulev.
Fury will step into the ring inside the Arena Armeec. Born and raised in Sofia, Pulev welcomes Fury to his stronghold knowing a loss will derail his own hopes of another world title tilt.
At 37, Pulevs window of opportunity is closing and the Bulgarian will have all the benefits of home comforts up against a fighter who has already failed once as a world title challenger.
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But Fury is only 24, and believes after overcoming a serious skin condition in the last year, the boxing public is yet to see the best of him as a fighter.
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The skin condition was actually killing me, literally poisoning my system, Fury told Metro.co.uk.
I was just getting over that coming into the Joseph Parker fight [last September] and it was out of my system, but ever since then my body has just been getting stronger and stronger.
Its changed me and Im a different person now.
A fifth-round stoppage win over Sam Sexton in May put Fury back on track after the disappointing defeat to then WBO champion Joseph Parker last year.
The Parker loss was the first of Furys career and the Brit revealed he found it hard to force himself back into contention.
After the Parker fight, I had to go down to Sexton, Fury admitted. No one would fight me.
Sam Sexton was the only one who would, so I had to take him. Then I got this fight here, and in this camp Ive been working on mistakes.
Ive worked on then, dwelled on them and tried to correct and perfect myself. You learn from mistakes, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger and Im definitely a better person for it.
Beating Pulev in his backyard is a tough ask for Fury. Pulev has a perfect record against British fighters, with wins over Dereck Chisora, Michael Sprott and Matt Skelton in his 26-fight career.
Wladimir Klitschko remains the only heavyweight to get the better of Pulev, but Fury insisted the pressure of fighting away from home is all in a fighters head.
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Its all in your head, it doesnt bother me, he said. If you can fight, you can fight, no matter where you are or whos in front of you.
Ive been looking at the Pulev fight since the start of the year. I said to my people, “Get me that fight as soon as possible”. I think Jarrell Miller was supposed to be taking it, but I said I wanted the fight.
More: Boxing
I believe if you can fight, you can fight anywhere, it doesnt matter where you are in the world. In the ring, theres two people in it, thats it.
The cousin of former unified champion Tyson Fury and the son, and fighter, of renowned trainer Peter Fury, Hughie brings eyes to every one of his contests.
But Fury is determined to mark out his own legacy and believes 27 October is the first step towards becoming a world champion.
You live, you learn. From my previous fights, Im a different person since then, Fury explains. You learn from mistakes and you learn from losses, believe me Im not the same fighter now.
Youll see on 27 October, I wont be the same fighter. Im looking forward to that fight, and weve got a good game plan. Its going to be exciting.
Watch Pulev vs. Fury live on free to air Channel 5 from 9pm on Saturday, 27 October .
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British heavyweight Hughie Fury travels into enemy territory on Saturday night in Bulgaria looking to relaunch his career against Kubrat Pulev.
Fury will step into the ring inside the Arena Armeec. Born and raised in Sofia, Pulev welcomes Fury to his stronghold knowing a loss will derail his own hopes of another world title tilt.
At 37, Pulevs window of opportunity is closing and the Bulgarian will have all the benefits of home comforts up against a fighter who has already failed once as a world title challenger.
More: Boxing
But Fury is only 24, and believes after overcoming a serious skin condition in the last year, the boxing public is yet to see the best of him as a fighter.
Advertisement Advertisement
The skin condition was actually killing me, literally poisoning my system, Fury told Metro.co.uk.
I was just getting over that coming into the Joseph Parker fight [last September] and it was out of my system, but ever since then my body has just been getting stronger and stronger.
Its changed me and Im a different person now.
A fifth-round stoppage win over Sam Sexton in May put Fury back on track after the disappointing defeat to then WBO champion Joseph Parker last year.
The Parker loss was the first of Furys career and the Brit revealed he found it hard to force himself back into contention.
After the Parker fight, I had to go down to Sexton, Fury admitted. No one would fight me.
Sam Sexton was the only one who would, so I had to take him. Then I got this fight here, and in this camp Ive been working on mistakes.
Ive worked on then, dwelled on them and tried to correct and perfect myself. You learn from mistakes, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger and Im definitely a better person for it.
Beating Pulev in his backyard is a tough ask for Fury. Pulev has a perfect record against British fighters, with wins over Dereck Chisora, Michael Sprott and Matt Skelton in his 26-fight career.
Wladimir Klitschko remains the only heavyweight to get the better of Pulev, but Fury insisted the pressure of fighting away from home is all in a fighters head.
Advertisement Advertisement
Its all in your head, it doesnt bother me, he said. If you can fight, you can fight, no matter where you are or whos in front of you.
Ive been looking at the Pulev fight since the start of the year. I said to my people, “Get me that fight as soon as possible”. I think Jarrell Miller was supposed to be taking it, but I said I wanted the fight.
More: Boxing
I believe if you can fight, you can fight anywhere, it doesnt matter where you are in the world. In the ring, theres two people in it, thats it.
The cousin of former unified champion Tyson Fury and the son, and fighter, of renowned trainer Peter Fury, Hughie brings eyes to every one of his contests.
But Fury is determined to mark out his own legacy and believes 27 October is the first step towards becoming a world champion.
You live, you learn. From my previous fights, Im a different person since then, Fury explains. You learn from mistakes and you learn from losses, believe me Im not the same fighter now.
Youll see on 27 October, I wont be the same fighter. Im looking forward to that fight, and weve got a good game plan. Its going to be exciting.
Watch Pulev vs. Fury live on free to air Channel 5 from 9pm on Saturday, 27 October .
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