As the dust settles on an excellent weekend of boxing that concluded on Monday in Japan with an entertaining victory for Takumi Inoue, followed to the ring by his brother Naoya, and featured a redemptive triumph for Devin Haney, coached by his father, over Brian Norman Jnr., coached by his, the thread of family was woven richly throughout the action. Following on from the contrived drama of Eubank Jnr. and Benn's rematch the week before, there has been fraternal narratives in abundance for several weeks.

This weekend, in the less glamorous surroundings of Rotterdam, Hughie Fury will resume his latest attempt to emerge from the shadow of his cousin Tyson and reestablish his own credentials as a heavyweight contender following a summer of inactivity.

It has proven difficult to slip the gargantuan shadow cast by Tyson Fury despite the distance that now seems to exist between them. The truth of course is that Hughie simply isn't as good. That is the nature of a famous surname, the inevitable comparison, but it is an unhelpful benchmark for Hughie who at 31-years-old could still, theoretically, have time for another significant opportunity. Having begun as a teenage professional in 2013, it feels Dad, and coach, Peter Fury has been trying to unfurl what he believes is world-class talent from the inhibition his son always seemed to box within, for a long time. Sabbaticals, injuries and a parade of insignificant opponents have characterised different phases of his career and the latest run has been the definition of low key.

Three modest opponents in 2024, following a three year lay-off, were excusable - the fact Moses Itauma had destroyed two of them as a novice professional indicative of the modesty of the ambition. But it got Hughie boxing again and could be presumed to be the platform for a stronger 2025 but the momentum has been lost, one fight in May against part-time antiquity Dan Garber adding little to the story line.

Fast forward six months and Fury now finds himself on an obscure card in Rotterdam, not Liverpool or Rome, but it seems there will be another fighter of modest acclaim in the other corner (apologies to the Beautiful South). This time the opponent is Michael Webster, who has managed to compile 13 bouts in six years and has lost twice to Solomon Dacres and also to Jeamie Tshikeva (who boxes for the British title this weekend) in the last year or so. The final two by late stoppage.

He has some ability and some of those results are contextualised by the late notice time frame Webster took the fights on and the injuries he elected to ignore to accept the pay day. Nevertheless it is a world away from the status of opponent Hughie was competing with in his mid-twenties.

Perhaps there is sense in this slower rebuild process. However, with 33 fights behind him, including high level encounters with Alexander Povetkin LUD12 (2019) , Joseph Parker LMD12 (2017) and Kubret Pulev LUD12 (2018) and credible wins over veterans Samuel Peter, Dominic Guinn and competent then British Champion Sam Sexton, it seems unconscionable that he needs this many steps in order to get back toward contender level opponents. He did, for this observer, beat Parker and as the Kiwi has proceeded to win several significant fights since that performance grew in value. 

There will be precious few answers provided from beating Webster.

But as 2025 draws to a close, sadly, that is all Fury the younger is offering.