Top Rank make it official on Fury, Schwarz
In an official press release from Top Rank, unbeaten lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, will defend his title against top contender Tom Schwarz Saturday, June 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be promoted by Top Rank, in association with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and SES Boxing. It is also the first in many in a deal he signed with Top Rank last month.
Fury-Schwarz will be available live in the United States exclusively on the streaming service ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST.
“It’s with great pride that Top Rank and Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, together with ESPN+ and MTK Global, will be able to present the leading heavyweight in the world and a megastar in boxing,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum in a press release. “Tyson will be facing a tough, experienced and undefeated fighter in Tom Schwarz, who is coming to Las Vegas ready to shock the world.”
Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) captured the lineal heavyweight title on November 28, 2015, with a unanimous decision over long-time champion Wladimir Klitschko. That win catapulted him to worldwide celebrity, but a host of personal demons threatened to end his career before he could defend his title. He ballooned to 400-plus pounds but rebounded with a 2018 comeback that ranks among the greatest redemption stories in sports history. His last fight is the one we all remember on December 1, 2018, in Los Angeles. In that bout, Fury fought WBC champion Deontay Wilder to a majority draw that has the boxing world itching for the rematch.
Fury said in a press release, “I’m absolutely delighted to be boxing in Las Vegas on ESPN+. I always said I will never go to Vegas until I box there and now I finally am. I can’t wait to put on a boxing master class for all my fans. The British and Irish fans will invade Vegas. I can’t wait!”
The Lineal Heavyweight Championship is coming to MGM Grand in Las Vegas ?? pic.twitter.com/Q8zKV01tTB
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) April 8, 2019
Schwarz (24-0, 16 KOs) is a 24-year-old native of Halle, Germany, a 6-foot-5 boxer-puncher who has not gone the distance in his past six fights. Ranked No. 2 by the WBO and No. 9 by the IBF, Schwarz has fought all but two of his bouts in Germany but has climbed the world heavyweight rankings with a string of dominant performances. He captured the WBO Intercontinental belt in April 2017 with a second-round stoppage of Adnan Redzovic (18-1 at the time) and has since defended that belt four times. In his last bout, March 2 in Magdeburg, Germany, he knocked down Kristijan Krstacic three times in the second round to win by stoppage.
Schwarz said in a press release “This is what I’ve been working for since I was a kid. A fight in Las Vegas against Tyson Fury is a dream come true. While I appreciate Tyson as a great fighter and a sportsman, I am young, ambitious and in the top of the world rankings. I‘ve won 24 fights, I’ve got nothing to lose, and my 25th victory will come against Fury.”
If you need to know what Fury is getting into, I did a deep dive on Schwarz here.
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
