As expected, Tyson Fury has lost even more weight ahead of his second fight back since his time away from the ring.
Promoter Frank Warren instructed Fury to get into better shape after the British heavyweight extended his perfect professional record 26-0 when he forced Sefer Seferi to quit on his stool in June.
Francesco Pianeta is expected to pose a tougher test for Fury, who is hoping to set up a world title fight with an impressive win in Windsor Park this weekend.
Fury is expected to be matched up with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder for a monster bout before the year’s end and he has noticeably slimmed down in recent months.
The 30-year-old weighed in at 18st 6lbs at Friday afternoon’s weigh-in ceremony, lighter than the 19st 10lbs he registered earlier this summer.
The People's Champ 🥊🏆 pic.twitter.com/jhusyvVqP3
— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) August 17, 2018
Wilder will be ringside for the bout and will likely square off with Fury if ‘The Gypsy King’ makes it 27-0 in Belfast.
But Fury is not looking past Pianeta by any means, despite being a massive favourite, and is aware of the dangers posed by the Italian fighter.
“I study my heavyweights and I know he’s fought some good men. He’s a big strong fella and he knows that if he wins he will fight Wilder instead of me,” Fury said. “He’s going to try to knock me out. Hopefully he won’t be successful and we’ll put on a show.
“He’s southpaw, which is a lot more awkward because there aren’t many of them in the division, so it’s hard to get sparring. But every southpaw I’ve ever fought I’ve knocked out.
“What you’re likely to see from me on Saturday is a heavyweight Sugar Ray Leonard. Anything less is a failure. Judge me on that comment – a heavyweight Sugar Ray Leonard.”
