Tyson Fury has been warned not to “overlook” the hunger of Tom Schwarz to take his unbeaten record when the former world No 1 faces the German heavyweight prospect in Las Vegas on June 15.
Fury, in Leicester on Saturday night to witness his cousin, the heavyweight Nathan Gorman, take his unbeaten run to 16 fights against veteran Kevin Johnson, called Schwarz “young, hungry and unbeaten”.
Ben Davison, Fury’s trainer, who guided the “Gipsy King” back from despair and obesity at 28½ stone to a spectacular yet controversial draw in which the Briton looked to have beaten Deontay Wilder last year in Los Angeles in a bid for the World Boxing Council title, told Telegraph Sport: “Tom Schwarz is 6ft 6in, 18st, undefeated and was ranked No 2 and No 9 by two of the world sanctioning bodies.
“Tyson was in a similar situation before he fought Wladimir Klitschko, with people saying, ‘who had Tyson fought?’
“The other big names are tied up and this opponent fitted the bill. Tyson must not overlook him, and we’ll make sure he’s in the shape of his life again, mentally and physically.
Of course, we want the big fights, Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Dillian Whyte, and they will happen. We’ll find out soon enough if Tyson has taken Schwarz seriously when they step into that ring in Vegas.”
Schwarz, 24, has won all 24 of his fights, 16 through knockouts.
Fury’s Las Vegas debut will mark the start of his five-fight deal with United States broadcasters ESPN, which is reportedly worth £80 million.
Elsewhere, Billy Joe Saunders, who has teamed up with Davison again after a brief sojourn to Sheffield under trainer Dominic Ingle, is expected to be unveiled in a world title showdown on Monday, at super-middleweight.
Promoter Frank Warren is to announce the date and venue for Saunders to face Shefat Isufi for the vacant World Boxing Organisation crown.
Saunders stepped up from middleweight, where he was an undefeated world champion, to the 12st division last month. Isufi, a 29-year-old Serbian-born German, has lost three of his 32 bouts. A victory for Saunders would put him in the mix for unification fights against Callum Smith and Chris Eubank Jnr or even Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Charlie Edwards, who retained the World Boxing Council flyweight title with a clean sweep of 120-107 scorecards against Spaniard Angel Moreno on Saturday night in London, said on Sunday that he would now “like to unify” and then go on to be undisputed champion.
“I want to build a legacy for the British boxing fans,” he said. “Whoever is next I’m ready. I want to unify, and I want to build a legacy.
“I’m obsessed with this game. I’m obsessed with bettering myself day in, day out. I like to prove everyone wrong. This is a dream come true.”