What has Francesco Pianeta got in store for Tyson Fury?

Fury ramps up the quality of opposition…

Tyson Fury continues his comeback in mid-August in a 10-round bout with Italian heavyweight, Francesco Pianeta.

The clash takes place in Belfast on the undercard of Carl Frampton’s Interim WBO World Featherweight title defence against Luke Jackson at Windsor Park.

Fury returned to the squared circle after nearly three years’ absence with a straight-forward win against Sefer Seferi back in June.

But will Pianeta give the former world heavyweight champion a stiffer test? The Coral News Team investigate…

Decent pedigree

Frank Warren chooses his fighters’ opponents carefully when arranging match-ups. Seferi was never going to give Fury a real fight. In reality, it was little more than a sparring session. 

But Pianeta, at least, has fought some world-class heavyweights in recent years. The veteran Italian has been in with former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko back in 2013.

And he also went up against Ruslan Chagaev two years later for the WBA regular heavyweight title. So he certainly has a better pedigree and more experience than Fury’s previous opponent.

Natural heavyweight

Another big difference – literally – between Seferi and Pianeta is size. Size matters, especially in the heavyweight division. And the Italian has it.

Seferi was a cruiserweight stepping up with the big boys. But Pianeta is a natural heavyweight, standing at around 6ft 5in, and thick. That’s only four inches off Fury, and it’s likely he’ll be in better shape than the Briton.

Pianeta is also only 33-years-old, just four years older than Fury. Don’t expect him to wow with his skill set or ability, but he’s a capable fighter at this level.

What’s next for the Gypsy King?

The end goal for Fury must be a winner-takes-all battle with fellow British boxing superstar, Anthony Joshua.

But Fury needs another few fights to shake off the ring rust that he’ll have accumulated over the last three years or so. Although he got himself into relatively decent shape for the Seferi fight, he was still well off peak physical condition.

And that won’t cut it against the likes of AJ and Deontay Wilder. In fact, it might not cut it against someone like Joseph Parker or Dillian Whyte.

Expect one or two more fights against the Pianeta’s of the heavyweight division.

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