Windsor Park in Belfast is the venue for the next chapter in the professional boxing career of undefeated lineal heavyweight champion of the world Tyson Fury (26-0-0, 19 KO’s).
He is continuing his high-profile comeback as a special attraction bout on the undercard of Belfast hero Carl Frampton’s return to Northern Ireland, where ‘The Jackal’ defends his WBO Interim World featherweight title against unbeaten Australian Luke ‘Action’ Jackson.
Fury’s comeback on June 9th at the Manchester Arena proved very little, with opponent Sefer Seferi producing a disappointing, somewhat comical performance before quitting on his stool as soon as the big man got the slightest bit serious in the fourth round.
More will be expected of his next opponent, as the Fury camp look to get some rounds under their man’s belt after a well-documented fall from grace following his sensational win over Wladimir Klitschko in Germany in November 2015.
‘The Italian Ace’ Franceco Pianeta, a 6ft 5″ southpaw with 35 wins in his 40 fights should fit the bill perfectly, and is a good choice for Tyson’s second fight back after two years out and a massive weight loss of 8 stone.
The German-based-Italian is known to boxing fans for challenging for former Fury foe Klitschko’s WBA/WBO/IBF titles back in May 2013 after racking up a very impressive record of 27 straight wins.
Though he was dismissed by a top form Klitschko in six rounds, Pianeta has regrouped with seven wins in his ten bouts since. In his last fight in June, he extended the heavy-handed unbeaten Croatian prospect Peter Milas the full ten round distance, dropping a decision in a competitive showing.
Mila’s previous contest saw him become the only man other than Anthony Joshua to stop wily American Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson which he did in March of this year, so Pianeta is obviously still a handful: and at 33 years-of-age will have ambitions of his own, starting with a win over ‘The Gypsy King’.
I expect a much more serious and focused Tyson Fury in his next outing. As each challenge presents itself – and Pianeta looks as though he will come to fight – we will discover just how far Fury has left to go before the heavyweight shake-up begins.
Article by: Glenn McCrory
You can follow Glenn on Twitter at: @Glenn_McCrory