Peter Fury brands on fighter a “monster”.
When last one of Peter Fury’s fighters was on the world stage, it was when Rico Verhoeven fought Oleksandr Usyk, the former two-time opponent of Peter’s superstar nephew Tyson.
Few gave Verhoeven any semblance of a chance when he fought Usyk in May, largely due to the fact that he was a career kickboxer who was facing the unified heavyweight boxing champion in only his second professional bout in the sport of pugilism.
However, the reality would prove to be very different, as Verhoeven would give Usyk all sorts of issues, leading comfortably on the cards for most by the time he lost by a controversial 11th-round TKO.
In spite of the official result, Peter was praised for his ability as a trainer after the fight, as it was his fighter who had provided Usyk with what was likely the hardest bout of his career.
But while he had success with one Dutchman in Verhoeven, Peter is also involved with another fighter from the Netherlands, serving as mentor for light-heavyweight Gradus Kraus.
The 25-year-old Kraus is unbeaten in 12 fights, with 11 of his wins coming by knockout. Having impressively dispatched of Sean Hemphill in the first round last week, the belief surrounding him is only growing.
And in an interview with iFL TV, Peter Fury stated, “Listen, this kid [Kraus] is a monster in the ring. I tip him for massive things … Trust me, if Ben Shalom and Mick [Hennessy] could get him [to fight Artur] Beterbiev tomorrow, he’d be havin’ it for his next fight. That’s how good he is.”
Peter then issued a challenge to all 175-pound fighters by saying, “Here, any name out there, put your name forward. He can fight ’em in October, November, [or] December. He’s ready for all of ’em.”
Very bold words, and time will tell if Gradus Kraus will live up to them. But at the moment, he certainly looks like something pretty exciting.
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