By Daniel Gonzalez

LAS VEGAS, NV – If you ask me, it looks the heavyweight division is shaping up quite nicely for some high drama and epic battles in the near future.  Although the underdog, Tom Schwarz (24-1, 16 KOs) could not shock the world like Andy Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs) did two weeks ago, two talented British heavyweights took the risk of crossing the pond and put on tremendous fight shows in both New York City and Las Vegas.

The “Gypsy King”, Tyson Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs), fresh off his draw with power punching WBC Heavyweight Champion, Deontay Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) in arguably the most entertaining fight of 2018, once again entertained both boxing purists and  casual fans across the world last night.

Not only did Fury display Muhammad Ali like movement and boxing skill, he also did his best Aerosmith/Steven Tyler impression after earning a TKO of Schwarz at 2:54 of the second round at the MGM Grand.

With a ring entrance that honored all of the previous lineal heavyweight champions, Tyson, who’s father named him after heavyweight great Mike Tyson, welcomed himself to America clad in American flag trunks and a top hat, a la Apollo Creed.  He shimmied and danced his way into the ring singing “Living in America” in his inaugural fight as a Top Rank/ESPN fighter. For those tuning in, Fury was undoubtedly entertaining.   

The 6ft – 9 inch Brit proclaimed after the fight, “The key to tonight was to enjoy meself.”

It appeared that the Gypsy King did exactly that.  While doing so, Fury displayed boxing skills that are not commonly associated with a heavyweight fighter.  He used his jab,  shoulder rolled and moved his head to avoid punches, and even switched from orthdox to southpaw en route to his spectacular knock out of the 6 ft – 5 inch Schwarz.

After Deontay Wilder annilhated Dominic Breazeale in 1 round last month, Fury’s performance was equally entertaining.  With Anthony Joshua now out of the mix for the time being, the most anticipated heavyweight superfight is unquestionably a Wilder/Fury rematch.  Fury before breaking into song, assured boxing fans that the Wilder clash would happen in early 2020.  However, he also indicated that he would be back in the ring on either September 21 or October 5.

Despite Fury continuing to claim that he is the lineal champion, Andy Ruiz holds the majority of the hardware in the heavyweight division.  It is a wonder whether Fury will call the current unified heavyweight champion out.

Although Joshua appears to need to avenge his loss to Ruiz, a showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury could still be a huge attraction and lucrative matchup.

Boxing Action Magazine Fans…after this performance by Fury, what are your current top heavyweight rankings? Is Wilder, Fury or Ruiz number one?

Daniel Gonzalez is a Senior Boxing Writer. Dan writes for many publications including Boxing Action Magazine, www.BoxingAction24.com and www.SideStepBoxing.com

Photo courtesy of Mikey Williams/ Top Rank