Tyson Fury is back.
The former IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion (25-0-18 KOs) is coming back after a 2 1/2-year absence following a doping ban.
The first opponent in his comeback tour will be Albanian Sefer Seferi (23-1-21 KOs), a career cruiserweight who has been in four fights since Fury last entered a ring in November 2015. The fight will take place on June 9.
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Opta aggregated some fast facts about the upcoming match to get fans ready for the fight:
- Fury’s victory in Düsseldorf against Wladimir Klitschko was the first defeat to be inflicted upon the Ukrainian since 2004, when Lamon Brewster stopped him in the 5th round.
- Anthony Joshua’s much lauded victory over Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium took place 17 months after Fury managed the same feat but in Klitschko’s adopted home of Germany; Tyson did not touch the canvass in his bout.
- 39-year-old Sefer Seferi has only tasted defeat once in his professional career to date; losing to current WBA (regular) heavyweight belt holder, Manuel Charr in September 2016.
- Although this is set to take place at heavyweight, Sefer Seferi has campaigned as a cruiserweight for most of his career; he has an older brother (Nuri) who is a cruiserweight too — his fight record stands at 39 wins and eight defeats, losing to former world champions Marco Huck, Herbie Hide and Krzysztof Głowacki.
- Despite not being regarded as a puncher, Tyson Fury’s decision win over Klitschko ended a run of four stoppages whilst Seferi has claimed 21 of his 23 victories inside the scheduled distance.
- Fury is fighting in the North West, the region where he was brought up and currently resides, for the first time since his dramatic three-round win over Neven Pajkic back in 2011.
- All of the belts won by Tyson Fury as a result of his win in Germany versus Klitschko were lost because of his absence away from the ring; all of the straps he picked up are now in the possession of British rival, Anthony Joshua.
- Although Sefer Seferi has only suffered one defeat in 24 appearances as a pro, the total record of his opponents at the time of fighting them stands at 337 losses and 237 victories (21 draws); Fury’s by contrast, 176 defeats and 486 wins (14 draws).
- Tyson Fury has recorded 146 rounds across his 25 professional fights to date; Seferi has only gone 86 over his 24 outings. This will be the 15th 10+ round fight for Fury and the 13th in succession, whilst this is just the 6th such fight for Seferi.