TYSON FURY is heading to Las Vegas to fight Tom Schwarz in his first return to the ring since a dramatic bout with Deontay Wilder last December.
Fury will take on the German, who has won all 24 of his fights, on June 15 at the Thomas & Mack Centre, boxing management company MTK Global said.
Fury and Wilder could not negotiate an immediate rematch, with the Brit signing a multi-year, multi-fight agreement with United States broadcaster ESPN and promoted by Top Rankโs Bob Arum alongside Frank Warren.
Fury said he was excited to be returning to America after overcoming two knockdowns in a controversial draw against WBC heavyweight champion Wilder in Los Angeles last year.
โIโm really looking forward to it as it will be my first time in Las Vegas,โ the 30-year-old said.
โWhen you start boxing as a little kid, you dream of going to America and cracking it. In my last fight I did that with Wilder, and now Iโm going back and will be seen by a lot of people around the world.โ
โIโm very fit and ready, so I canโt wait. Tom Schwarz is a young, fresh and ambitious fighter, but Iโm going to put on a good show as usual.โ
In an earlier interview, Top Rank boss Bob Arum told World Boxing News they wanted to โget a guy who hadnโt tasted a lossโ.
โTyson is such a big, big guy, we didnโt want to put him in with a small guy and Schwarz is a big, big guy. It will make a really compelling fight,โ he said.
โHe was quite willing to take the fight. The terms were negotiated and the idea that he wanted to and is able to fight Tyson Fury. This was never in doubt.โ
Arum is hopeful a deal can be arranged for Fury to fight Wilder again in early 2020.
โAssuming he (Fury) wins this fight, heโll have another appearance in the United States,โ Arum added.
โThen hopefully next year in February heโll end up fighting Wilder.โ
The Schwarz fight will be broadcast on BT Sport in the UK.