Hughie Fury Illness Delays Michael Hunter Bout

Michael Hunter will have to wait a bit longer to get back in the ring.

Hunter’s opponent, Hughie Fury, was forced to suspend camp after attempting to train through an illness for their originally scheduled July 2 date, BOXXER announced on Wednesday.

“On behalf of myself and my son, we apologize to the fans but most of all to Hunter and his team, because like us, they’ve gone through a hard camp and this news is the last thing anyone in boxing wants to hear,” said his father and trainer, Peter Fury.

“Once again we apologize to everyone involved, but health is paramount in boxing.”

Fury and Hunter’s matchup is a WBA world championship eliminator bout, which will elevate the winner for a shot at the WBA “regular” heavyweight championship, which is held by new titleholder Daniel Dubois.

Dubois overcame Trevor Bryan this past weekend with a fourth-round knockout.

Hunter (20-1-2, 14 KOs) is ranked as the world’s seventh best active heavyweight by BoxRec, sixth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and eighth by Ring Magazine, as of November 2020.

He is the son of late pro boxer Mike Hunter, who was originally nicknamed “the Bounty.” He is coming off a split draw against Jerry Forrest in December 2021.

Fury has not fought since a corner stoppage of Christian Hammer in October 2021. He challenged for the WBO heavyweight title in 2017 at 23 years old.

After the postponement was announced, Hunter took to Twitter and named a new potential opponent.

Joseph Parker ?? https://t.co/lU2YspHbcV

— Michael Hunter ll (@MichaelHunterII) June 15, 2022