The Gypsy King Returns: Tyson Fury to Defend Lineal Heavyweight Title Against Tom Schwarz June 15 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on ESPN+
April 27, 2024
Top Rank Press Release
Live and exclusive stream begins at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST
Exclusively on ESPN+
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LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2019) — The biggest star in world heavyweight boxing — all 6 feet 9 inches of him — is coming to the fight capital of the world.
Unbeaten lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, the self-proclaimed “Gypsy King,” will defend his title against top contender Tom Schwarz Saturday, June 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be promoted by Top Rank, in association with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and SES Boxing.
Fury-Schwarz will be available live in the United States exclusively on ESPN+ — the leading multi-sport streaming service – beginning at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST.
The fight marks the first in a multi-fight agreement announced in February, in which Fury’s fights are co-promoted by Top Rank and Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and are a headline piece of the boxing lineup under the historic, long-term Top Rank on ESPN relationship.
Tickets priced at $600, $450, $300, $200, $100 and $50 (not including applicable charges) go on sale to the general public Thursday, April 25 at 10 a.m. PST. Tickets can be purchased online through axs.com, charge by phone at 866-740-7711 or in person at any MGM Resorts box office.
“It’s with great pride that Top Rank and Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, together with ESPN+ and MTK Global, will be able to present the leading heavyweight in the world and a megastar in boxing,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Tyson will be facing a tough, experienced and undefeated fighter in Tom Schwarz, who is coming to Las Vegas ready to shock the world.”
Fury said, “I’m absolutely delighted to be boxing in Las Vegas on ESPN+. I always said I will never go to Vegas until I box there and now I finally am. I can’t wait to put on a boxing master class for all my fans. The British and Irish fans will invade Vegas. I can’t wait!”
Schwarz said, “This is what I’ve been working for since I was a kid. A fight in Las Vegas against Tyson Fury is a dream come true. While I appreciate Tyson as a great fighter and a sportsman, I am young, ambitious and in the top of the world rankings. I‘ve won 24 fights, I’ve got nothing to lose, and my 25th victory will come against Fury.”
Warren said, “I’m very excited about starting the next chapter in the Tyson Fury story. With this new deal and co-promotion with Top Rank, it’s all about getting Tyson out there to a huge audience, and nobody can do that in America like ESPN. He’s the best heavyweight on the planet and the lineal champion. He’s a superstar, and there is nowhere better for a superstar to have his next fight than in the Mecca of boxing itself, Las Vegas. I would like to extend a special thanks to MTK Global for the role they have played in this exciting next step. BT will broadcast exclusively in the UK and an announcement will follow from them on how UK fans can watch Tyson’s return.”
“All the best fighters of the last decade-plus have fought in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and on June 15, you can add Tyson Fury to that list,” said Bob Yalen, president, MTK Global. “The world’s premier promoter, the world’s premier boxing venue and the world’s premier heavyweight, backed by the world’s premier management team on the world’s premier sports network…It is going to be a can’t-miss night of boxing.”
“Tyson Fury is an incredible boxer with an incredible story, two things that are right at home on ESPN+,” said Russell Wolff, executive vice president and general manager, ESPN+. “Tom Schwarz is young, ambitious and unbeaten. This fight adds to an ESPN+ boxing lineup that has been packed with champions in its first year, making it a must-have for any fan of the sweet science. And we’re just getting started.”
Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) captured the lineal heavyweight title on November 28, 2015, with a unanimous decision over long-time champion Wladimir Klitschko. That win catapulted him to worldwide celebrity, but a host of personal demons threatened to end his career before he could defend his title. He blew up to 400-plus pounds, only to author a 2018 comeback that ranks among the greatest redemption stories in sporting history. In the third fight of his comeback, December 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, Fury fought WBC champion Deontay Wilder to a disputed draw. His recovery from a hellacious 12th-round knockdown became an instant viral video sensation and the stuff of boxing legend.
Schwarz (24-0, 16 KOs) is a 24-year-old native of Halle, Germany, a 6-foot-5 boxer-puncher who has not gone the distance in his past six fights. Ranked No. 2 by the WBO and No. 9 by the IBF, Schwarz has fought all but two of his bouts in Germany but has climbed the world heavyweight rankings with a string of dominant performances. He captured the WBO Intercontinental belt in April 2017 with a second-round stoppage of Adnan Redzovic (18-1 at the time) and has since defended that belt four times. In his last bout, March 2 in Magdeburg, Germany, he knocked down Kristijan Krstacic three times in the second round to score the stoppage.
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About Top Rank
Innovation has been the standard at Top Rank since it was established in 1966 by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. The boxing industry’s leading promotional company, Top Rank has shaped, developed, and promoted the careers of top international pay-per-view superstars and Hall of Famers, including Muhammad Ali, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Aaron Pryor, Alexis Arguello, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Erik Morales, Terence Crawford, and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Top Rank has promoted some of the most memorable fights in the sport’s history, including 26 Ali events, Leonard vs. Hearns, Pryor vs. Arguello, Duran vs. Leonard, Hagler vs. Hearns, Leonard vs. Hagler, Foreman vs. Holyfield, Morales vs. Barrera, De La Hoya vs. Trinidad, and the most lucrative fight in boxing history, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. In addition to the previously mentioned super fights, Top Rank possesses one of the largest sports libraries, which includes nearly 10,000 fights.
Known for creating strategic collaborations between athletes, sponsors, and television networks, Top Rank has been an architect of boxing’s global growth by staging high-profile events in landmark settings around the world, including Madison Square Garden, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Staples Center, Wembley Arena, Araneta Coliseum, The Venetian Macao, Yankee Stadium, Radio City Music Hall, The “Fabulous” Forum, and AT&T Stadium. Top Rank has also been the leader within the boxing industry in creating unforgettable in-arena experiences for fans and embracing 21st century technological advancements to distribute world-class fights and shoulder programming across a variety of platforms.
About Queensberry Promotions
Queensberry Promotions is the promotional vehicle of Hall of Fame Promoter Frank Warren.
Frank Warren has promoted some of the sport of boxing’s biggest names in his 35+ year career including the likes of Prince Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe, Mike Tyson, Frank Bruno and Ricky Hatton; as well as current stars Tyson Fury, Billy Joe Saunders, Josh Warrington and Carl Frampton.
Some of the events promoted by Frank Warren during his illustrious career include Frank Bruno v Oliver McCall at Wembley Stadium, David Haye v Derek Chisora at Upton Park, Ricky Hatton v Kostya Tszyu at Manchester Arena, Prince Naseem Hamed v Kevin Kelley at Madison Square Garden and Joe Calzaghe v Mikkel Kessler at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Queensberry Promotions has a long-term exclusive deal in the UK to promote boxing events on BT Sport, the sport broadcast platform of telecoms giant BT.
About MTK Global
MTK Global is the world’s foremost fighter management company. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it was founded in September 2012 by two-time European boxing champion, Matthew Macklin.
MTK Global delivers a wide range of support and services including career development, legal, media, endorsements and sponsorships to more than a hundred professional fighters. It provides boxing shows, events and training gyms in various locations worldwide: Marbella, Spain, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, United Kingdom, Johannesburg, South Africa, Sta. Catarina, Brazil and Sydney, Australia.
About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN. It reached 2 million subscribers in less than a year and offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks, along with premium editorial content.
Programming on ESPN+ includes hundreds of MLB and NHL games, exclusive UFC, Top Rank boxing and PFL fights and events, top domestic and international soccer (Serie A, MLS, FA Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL Championship, EFL Carabao Cup, Eredivisie, and more), thousands of college sports events (including football, basketball and other sports), Grand Slam tennis, international and domestic rugby and cricket, new and exclusive series, acclaimed studio shows and the full library of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 films. Fans subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and can cancel at any time.
ESPN+ is available as an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices) and ESPN.com. They are the industry-leading all-in-one digital sports platform, delivering a rich, personalized experience to tens of millions of fans every month.
About ESPN
ESPN, the world’s leading sports entertainment enterprise features more than 50 assets – eight U.S. television networks, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN International, ESPN The Magazine and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by Hearst.
About MGM Grand Garden Arena
The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez as well as Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Strait, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena also has been home to annual events including the Academy of Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Latin GRAMMY Awards, iHeartRadio Music Festival, Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Championship and Frozen Fury NHL pre-season games hosted by the Los Angeles Kings.
About the Editor
Army Veteran and former Professional Boxer Simon Ruvalcaba started boxing at the age of ten and Had a 71 fight amateur career which featured a 139 lbs. 1998 8th U.S. Army Boxing Championship out of Camp Casey, Korea and a spot on the prestigious Army Boxing Team at Fort Hood, TX. After a journeyman pro career of 18 fights, which included sparring sessions with many champions and contenders including Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker, Simon started writing and has contributed to many publications and websites including fighthype.com, pound4pound.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, CA), Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV). He has also been the Boxing Instructor for Ken Shamrock and The Lions Den and was MMA and Bareknuckle star Paige VanZant’s first boxing coach!
Born and Raised in South Lake Tahoe, California he now resides in Sun Valley, Nevada and spends as much time as possible with his Sons Gabriel and Oscar! Beyond boxing, Simon is an all around sports fanatic and is passionate about the teams that he roots for. Simon also works as a Sportsbook Supervisor for Caesars Sportsbook in Lake Tahoe.
