Tyson Fury’s road back to the world heavyweight title will have him face off against a two-time title challenger.
Promoter Frank Warren promoter announced on Twitter that Fury would be facing Francesco Pianeta on the August 18 boxing card from Belfast, Northern Ireland. This fight will be Fury’s second since returning to the ring from a lengthy drug suspension.
Fury’s first fight on the comeback trail saw him easily dispatch Sefer Seferi in only four rounds to get his first win since 2015, which was a historic upset win over then-unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. At one point, Fury held every major world heavyweight title except for the WBC title, currently being held by Deontay Wilder. Since the win over Klitschko, Fury had not fought since the June 9 fight against Seferi and has either vacated or had been stripped of all of his titles except for the lineal heavyweight title.
Pianeta is a former European champion and got his first shot at the world heavyweight title when he faced off against Klitschko in 2013. Pianeta then challenged for the WBA heavyweight title in 2015, but was also unsuccessful. The 33-year-old Pianeta has a 1-2 record in his last three fights with his lone win coming against Daso Simeunovic, who was fighting his second pro fight.
The August 18 card will also feature interim WBO featherweight champion Carl Frampton in action as well as a WBC flyweight title fight between Cristofer Rosales and Paddy Barnes.
