Tyson Fury (27-0-1) recently recaptured the SportsRatings Heavyweight Boxing title — due to Andy Ruiz Jr's upset of Anthony Joshua. Now he defends that title against Tom Schwarz—a fighter who isn't even registered in our system (that is, he has never defeated anyone who is in the system). It's the first time our champion has defended against a non-registered fighter since....well, we have no idea. It's almost unprecedented. Floyd Patterson was champion when he defended against amateur champion Pete Rademacher in Rademacher's first pro fight, that's all we can think of offhand.
Tom Schwarz is undefeated (24-0-0) but has literally beaten no one. To put it plainly, Schwarz winning would be an upset far bigger than Ruiz beating Joshua. Like Ruiz, Schwarz wouldn't capture our belt with an upset win—but he'd jump in at around #4, but more significantly he'd topple Fury from the #1 spot—and hand it to Ruiz!
Fury entered the ring in Uncle Sam regalia a la Apollo Creed in Rocky IV. Fight is about to start.
- Round 1: Schwarz standing tall in the center of the ring. Fury hitting Schwarz's gloves, getting a few jabs in to the head and body. Using his reach well. Schwarz looks tentative, playing defense, blocking most of the jabs but offering little offense. Fury ducks Schwarz hook. Good movement from Fury despite a bit of a gut. Schwarz's big punches miss. Fury 10-9.
- Round 2: Fury in southpaw to start round 2. Good uppercut left from Fury. Schwarz still on defense, jumps in for a few attempts. Another uppercut from Fury. Another uppercut. Fury's hands down against ropes after good exchange. Feints from Fury confuse Schwarz. Uppercuts bloodying Schwarz's face. Fury dodging Schwarz's punches against ropes. Schwarz down from combo, he is looking completely outclassed. Fury piling it on. Fight is stopped with seconds left in round 2.
Fury defeats Schwarz by 2nd round stoppage, 2:54 in round 2.
This fight was a joke from the moment it was scheduled. Fury deserves credit for a great performance in this fight, but let's remember his opponent, a guy who was undefeated because he was a decent fighter who had no opposition of note. In other words, anyone in the top 100 could have done what Tom Schwarz did. It was a good strategy—it got him a huge payday against Tyson Fury. But he didn't deserve it, and it showed. There was not one good moment for Schwarz to look back on, no 10-second clip where he showed anything at all.
Fury deserves credit for taking a lot of the fights he's taken over the years—in particular, the Deontay Wilder fight. But taking this fight was a cop-out. Hopefully Fury returns quickly to his old form, of taking fights against dangerous fighters.
Fury remains our #1 rated heavyweight by virtue of not losing this fight, but he gains no points in our system for doing so.
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