Tyson Fury v Tom Schwarz: Lineal heavyweight champion stops German challenge in round two in Las Vegas
Tyson Fury made a statement to the heavyweight division as he impressively stopped Tom Schwarz in the second round on his Las Vegas debut.
Almost seven months after his dramatic and controversial draw with Deontay Wilder - a fight many felt he edged despite being sent to the canvas twice - the unbeaten British star got back to winning ways to extend his record to 28 victories from 29 bouts, with 20 knockouts.
Fury was a 1/33 favourite to beat the German underdog (24-1, 16 KOs) and was comfortably able avoid a similar fate suffered by Anthony Joshua, who lost all three of his belts to unheralded Andy Ruiz Jr on June 1.
While the 30-year-old Manchester star claimed his fellow Briton was "finished" earlier in the week, his attention can now now turn to preparing for a potential rematch with WBC heavyweight champion Wilder next year following one more fight this winter.
If this fight didn't offer good value for money in terms of how long it lasted, he did at least put on another show with his vocal talents afterwards.
Speaking to ESPN after the win, Fury said he was going to "hunt down Wilder and make him give me that green belt" in 2020.
Afterwards, he told BT Sport: "First of all Tom Schwarz was a good game lad. He's come here to play tonight, he's come here to spoil, he took some good punches.
"I finally got to him at the end of round two and that was it. I switched up southpaw, tonight I wasn't even orthodox, I let him have it from a southpaw position to put on a good show, you know."
He added: "He caught me with a few good shots, fair play. But as I say, you can't go swimming and not get wet."
Promoter Frank Warren told BT Sport that Wilder's team wants the fight with Fury to happen, saying: "Everybody wants to make it happen and it will happen."
Fury added he wanted to give a "shout-out" to Warren for making the Las Vegas fight possible. He said: "He brought me back from the brink of defeat. I was out, done. Down and out.
"It's a fairy tale story and I'm still living the dream. I am just over the moon. It's a fairy tale story and we roll on and on and on and on."
Fury had perhaps re-established himself as the world's leading heavyweight with December's thrilling draw against the American, when his performance deserved victory, and his reputation grew to such an extent he signed a lucrative contract to fight on ESPN out of the US against an unremarkable opponent.
Concerns persisted that the rounded abilities he traditionally favours over power and strength meant he would win without the sense of drama generated against Wilder and instead effortlessly out-jab Schwarz in the same way he once did Dereck Chisora, but he instead fought to make a statement and succeeded in doing exactly that.
Fulfilling a lifelong ambition of finally fighting in the Sin City, at the revered MGM Grand, Fury wore the US stars and stripes to and in the ring in an obvious attempt to further his growing popularity among Americans, he made a typically fast start to highlight the extent of the challenge the 25-year-old Schwarz faced.
He landed with two strong left hands, and then began to regularly land with the jab to both head and body while using his range and mobility to negate Schwarz's ineffective aggression.
So comfortable was Fury that he remained on his feet instead of sitting on his stool at the end of the round, and when the second started he just as effortlessly intensified his efforts to ruthlessly and swiftly secure the stoppage.
After hurting Schwarz with a combination, the 30-year-old landed a powerful left hand, danced his way out of the corner to resist his opponent and then leave him vulnerable, and then landed another hurtful combination and a left uppercut.
Schwarz's face and nose were by then already bloodied, and his struggles increased as he continued to take powerful punches.
Fury's fine reflexes and head movement meant the German's last attack made no impact, and he then went down for the first time when he took a straight right while trapped against the ropes.
The Briton pursued victory the instant Schwarz returned to his feet, backing him into a corner where he continued to hurt him to both head and body and attracting the close attention of referee Kenny Bayliss until, with only 10 seconds of the round remaining, his trainer Rene Friese rightly threw in the towel.
If his main rival as the world's best heavyweight had been Anthony Joshua, the former IBF, WBA and WBO champion's recent shock defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr means he will not be considered a realistic contender until he avenges that loss, and his latest convincing performance means he no longer has such a rival.
It is little secret Fury expects to fight Wilder in a rematch next year, and having planned to fight at least once more before the end of 2019, he revealed he already has dates of September 21 or October 5 agreed in principle before continuing to play the showman by singing a song for the 9,000 present in the arena.
Before the bout, Fury said he will be "fighting for people who are suffering" with mental health issues.
He told ESPN he wanted to be a "shining light in darkness".
"I've come back from such a dark, dark place and I want to show the world that there is a shining light out there, to give other people hope. And if I can do it, then you can do it. I do this for you, for all the depressed, oppressed people around the world. This one's for you."