The Lineal Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury Defends His Title Against Unbeaten German Tom Schwarz
On the 15th of June, The Gypsy King Tyson Fury makes his return to the ring, defending his Lineal title and making his Las Vegas debut. This is Fury’s first fight since his draw against WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in December. Attempting to snatch that title is unbeaten German prospect Tom Schwarz. Schwarz has a record of 24-0 with 16 knockouts, but to date he has not fought anyone at a world level. On paper this looks like a complete walkover for Fury, but is there a chance we could have another huge heavyweight shock on our hands?
Fury proved in December that he is easily one of the best heavyweights on the planet. He boxed rings around Wilder for the vast majority of their fight, and got up off the canvas twice. It was a performance that easily swayed many people to think that he is the best heavyweight on the planet right now, and I personally agree with that assessment. Fury had just two fights before challenging Wilder for his title, and managed to perform out of his skin. That means that this time out he’s sure to be even sharper than before. Since Joshua’s loss to Ruiz earlier this month, Fury has been named the best heavyweight in the world by Ring Magazine, and will undoubtedly try and capitalise on this high praise and exposure from the publication. Fury’s fast hands and head movement make him a nightmare for the elite of the division, so it is very unlikely that he’ll struggle on Saturday.
Tom Schwarz may be unbeaten, but his record doesn’t contain any big names to get excited about. The biggest name he’s fought so far would probably be Senad Gashi, who went on to fight Dereck Chisora earlier this year. Schwarz’s style favours him being on the front foot, and he generally finds himself in a good ring position, pushing his opponent back. However, when he’s forced onto the back foot he seems to struggle. Schwarz is generally able to land a good deal of punches, but his hand speed could be far better. In defence, Schwarz has little to no head movement, however he often manages to maintain a tight guard around his head, stopping many power punches from getting through. His lack of head movement often leaves him open to counter punches, although he generally seems to take them in his stride. This lack of defence favours Fury no end. His unconventional punching style means that he can land punches from any angle, meaning that Schwarz’s guard most likely won’t be enough for him. Schwarz is significantly slower than Wilder, and if Fury was able to avoid the majority of Wilder’s big power shots, then there’s a very good chance that he can do that with Schwarz too. The German appears to have a decent chin, but I doubt that he has the conditioning to compete with Fury’s freakish speed for 12 rounds. Schwarz has gone 10 rounds once, but has never been any further than that, meaning that he is far more likely to tire towards the end of the fight.
All in all this seems like a pretty straight forward fight for Fury and I don’t see Schwarz causing him all that many issues. Schwarz is a decent domestic to European level boxer, but to jump from domestic level opponents to Tyson Fury is a gap that’s just far too big. Fury will most likely completely outclass Schwarz, and I see him winning via stoppage from rounds 6 to 10.
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