Tyson Fury to face little-known Tom Schwarz on June 15 in Las Vegas
Lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will make his Las Vegas debut on June 15, though his opponent isn’t going to excite many fans.
Coming off a pulsating Dec. 1 draw with Deontay Wilder in a bout for the WBC heavyweight title in Los Angeles, Fury will return to the ring to face little-known Tom Schwarz in a bout that will either be on ESPN or streamed on ESPN+.
The venue is not determined. Top Rank has the Thomas & Mack Center on hold, though there is a better-than-average chance the fight may wind up at the MGM Grand Garden.
Top Rank signed Fury to a co-promotional agreement last month as Fury, who is from England, was looking to increase his profile in the U.S. At the time of the signing, reports were that Fury was close to a deal for a May 18 rematch with Wilder.
But Fury went in a different direction after signing with Top Rank, and now Wilder is back in talks with IBF-WBA-WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua about a match. Wilder will face Dominic Breazeale on May 18 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Top Rank wasn’t about to put Fury in too tough given the money at stake in a bout with Wilder, so it paired him with the German-born Schwarz. Schwarz, who is 6 foot 5 and fights around 245 pounds, is 24-0 with 16 knockouts and ranked No. 9 by the IBF.
Schwarz’s record is filled with little-known opposition and he hasn’t fought a Top 10 ranked opponent.
Fury is 27-0-1 with 19 knockouts. He won the lineal heavyweight title from Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, but had mental health issues and didn’t fight again until facing Wilder. He made many fans with his openness about his mental health issues and how he dealt with thoughts of suicide.
But he mostly was praised for being able to get up off the canvas twice after being knocked down by Wilder, including viciously in the 12th round.
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