The opponent for former unified heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury's ring return on June 9 was revealed on Sunday.
Promoter Frañk Warreñ announced that Fury's highly-anticipated comeback will come against Sefer Seferi in a scheduled 10-round bout that will take place at the Manchester Arena in Fury's hometown of Manchester, England.
"Tyson is back, in fantastic shape and full of beans, ready to take the first step on the road back towards world domination once again," Warreń said. "He needs comeback fights in order to shake off the ring rust after such a lengthy absence, and I am sure the fans will once again enjoy the ride back to the top."
When Fury's return was announced in mid-April he did not yet have an opponent, but few expected that when the foe was squared away it would be anyone who posed a serious threat given that Fury had been out of action for so long. Indeed, Seferi (23-1, 21 KOs), 39, of Macedonia, appears to be a relatively safe opponent.
Seferi, who has won his last two bouts, has faced mostly sub-.500 opposition since losing a wide 10-round unanimous decision in September 2016 to Manuel Charr, the only notable opponent of his career. Charr went on to claim a secondary world title in his next bout.
Seferi, the much smaller man who has fought most of his career as a cruiserweight, said he believes he has what it takes to pull the upset.
"This is going to be a hard fight for Fury," Seferi said. "I'm very disciplined and always ready to take on everyone and anyone. This will not be an easy night for him. I'm coming to Manchester to beat one of the boxing legends of the 21st century.
"He is tall and strong but he won't be ready for the pressure that I will bring on June 9 -- 2½ (years) out of the ring is a long time and nobody knows if he is still the same fighter that dethroned Wladimir Klitschko. I am going to seize this opportunity with both hands."
Said Warrenñ: "Seferi is no push over. He's gone the distance with a world class fighter in Manuel Charr. He has spent the majority of his career at cruiserweight but so had Tony Bellew and David Haye before stepping up to the heavyweight division."
i'm just going look at Manchester Arena site to see if there has been a surge in sales since this announcement.