A fighter who shared the ring with David Haye has reminisced of the time he once sparred Tyson Fury, and in the process realised that he would ;never become a world champion.’
This weekend, Mark De Mori will return to the big stage, landing a major opportunity as he is poised to fight IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic on the Day of Reckoning event in Saudi Arabia.
De Mori is remembered by most for his first-round knockout defeat to David Haye in 2016, in the latter’s comeback fight following a three-and-a-half-year absence. However, since then ‘The Viking’ has won on each of his eleven outings, with all but one of those victories coming via stoppage in the fourth-round or sooner.
Despite his form, in an interview with Boxing Social, De Mori accepted that even if he was to defeat Hrgovic, the task of defeating Fury if it happened would be near impossible.
“Honestly, I don’t think that, if I caught Hrgovic, that anyone would want to see me fight the winner of Fury-Usyk, that’s just being realistic and that is fine, so we would probably do a rematch.
I sparred Fury once and it was during those rounds that I realised that I’d never become a world champion, that’s how much trouble I had landing a punch on him.
So, if I managed to knock him [Hrgovic] out, I think that it would be a rematch. It’s all good fun, there is no expectations on me or my career anymore, so I will walk in there with no weight on my shoulders.”
Despite being an unexpected inclusion on the card, De Mori has won fans over with his realistic approach to the fight, this being yet another example.
The blockbuster Saudi card also features the likes of Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Dmitry Bivol and takes place on Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV.