Tyson Fury will take on Tom Schwarz on the main card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this Saturday, June 15th.
It’s another undesirable and potentially dangerous fight for one of the division’s best, especially in the wake of Anthony Joshua’s bout against Andy Ruiz Jr.
State of the Heavyweights
Of course Fury is coming off that thrilling fight with WBC boss Deontay Wilder back in December, a fight which many fans believe he won but instead resulted in a controversial draw. Their rematch has been delayed several times due to purse bids as the two sides appear no closer to a deal.
Fury has since signed a $100 million deal with Top Rank, ESPN which complicates things even further by giving him more leverage at the negotiating table for a future fight with Wilder. Meanwhile, Wilder announced that he will rematch Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and could face unbeaten New York-based Polish contender Adam Kownacki in early 2020.
The shocking knockout loss of Joshua adds yet another wrinkle to the heavyweight scene. The former unified champion has exercised his rematch clause with Ruiz for a rematch to take place in either November or December at a venue to be determined. Another defeat would certainly place the Brit’s career in peril further escalating the uncertainty around a bout between the big three – Joshua, Fury, and Wilder.
Tale of the Tape
The unbeaten Schwarz will surely fancy his chances of unseating Fury and becoming an overnight sensation in the process. After all, he has nothing to lose.
Fury is without a doubt the favorite as many consider him to be the best active heavyweight on the planet. The so-called lineal champion is undefeated and will be expected to win in style.
Fury has been a world-class fighter for some time now and is a global name in the sport. Even Fury’s well-documented hiatus from boxing and very public struggle with mental illness as well as substance abuse has had zero impact upon his surreal ring skills.
Fury’s startling comeback began with wins over Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta. Those victories catapulted him to challenge Wilder, where he kept the hard-hitting slugger at bay with an excellent jab and ring movement even while suffering two knockdowns.
Tom Schwarz is a powerful fighter by all accounts in assessing his recent fights, but the caliber of opposition is nowhere near Fury’s.
He does possess knockout power as evidenced in stopping Croatia’s Kristijan Krstacic within two rounds and scoring a sixth-round TKO over fellow German Christian Lewandowski. However, he’s mostly fought in his native Germany and is virtually unknown at world level.
It is hard to find any quality opponents on Schwarz’s resume so it is fair to conclude that the slugger is undeserving of the opportunity to fight Fury.
Head-to-Head
It is apparent that Schwarz was chosen to introduce Fury to American fans and to show off the vast skillset that has made him a household name in other parts of the world. No knock on Schwarz who is a decent boxer but these two are just not in the same league.
Fury will never be confused as a knockout artist although he has a decent 68% KO ratio but his style is mostly built upon skills and being elusive. Schwarz fights in a more upright European-style and likes to come forward. He has a powerful right hand and always looks to land it behind the jab.
However, the German may find it rather difficult to hit the much taller and rangier Fury. Even the lightening-fast and power-punching Deontay Wilder found it frustrating to land on “The Gypsy King” so we suspect that a less talented Schwarz will experience the same.
Of course Fury has been down before in his career and Schwarz could catch him but that scenario seems very unlikely. A loss would be catastrophic for the bombastic Fury not only to his chances of securing lucrative fights with either Joshua or Wilder in the future but also to his super-sized ego.
Prediction
This is Fury’s fight to lose and it is hard to see him let that happen on boxing’s biggest stage at Madison Square Garden on June 15.
His gigantic size, agility and classic boxing skills should be more than enough to overwhelm the much smaller Schwarz. It doesn’t happen often but a Fury stoppage cannot be ruled out here, especially if the Brit is feeling motivated to one up Wilder and Joshua.
Fury should win this bout quite handily.
Fury by unanimous point decision.
The Undercard
In the co-feature, Sullivan Berrera (22-2, 14 KOs) will take on Philadelphia’s Jesse Hart (25-2, 21 KOs) in a light heavyweight showdown. Both fighters are returning from world title losses and know that this could be there last shot to work themselves back into contention. Barrera, from Cuba, brings considerable name recognition to this contest as a perennial contender. He holds victories over Joe Smith Jr., Karo Murat, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and former super middleweight world champion Jeff Lacy. He fought valiantly last time out against Dimitry Bivol in a title bout last year before being stopped dramatically in the twelfth round. Hart is a decent opponent having won eleven of his last twelve victories by knockout. He was featured on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao undercard in 2015, where he stopped Mike Jimenez in six rounds.
Also headlining the undercard will be unbeaten 2016 Olympian Mikaela Mayer (10-0, KOs) against Lizbeth Crespo (13-4, 3 Kos) for her NABF female super-featherweight title. Mayer is considered one of female boxing’s rising stars and has been dominant as a professional. She won the NABF strap with a shutout decision over previously undefeated Vanessa Bradford. Mayer then outclassed Yareli Larios over eight rounds in February. Crespo dropped a tightly contested unanimous decision to IBF featherweight champion Jennifer Han in February 2018.
Fury stablemate Isaac Lowe (17-0-3, 6 KOs) will battle Duarn Vue (14-1-2) in a 10-round featherweight bout to round out an interesting night of boxing.
Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (3-0, 3 Kos), who represented his native Italy at the 2016 Rio Olympics, will fight in a six-rounder.
Top super middleweight prospect Cem “Champ” Kilic (13-0, 8 Kos) will see action in an eight-rounder.
Fury-Schwarz and Hart-Barrera will stream live in the U.S. exclusively on ESPN+ beginning at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST. The undercard will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes beginning at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST.
