By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury says he’s interested in facing American Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller in October if Deontay Wilder doesn’t fight him in a rematch. Fury’s next fight will be taking place in New York City, so he feels it’s important that he matched against a highly ranked American heavyweight. The unbeaten New Yorker Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs) would be ideal for Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) to fight next.
Given Fury’s poor ticket sales for his recent mismatch against little known German heavyweight Tom Schwarz on June 15, he needs to face someone with talent this time. Fury can’t keep fighting dreadful fodder opposition if he wants to be taken seriously by American boxing fans. Top Rank is trying to turn into a star in the U.S, but they’re not going to be able to do that by putting him in showcase fights against opposition with inflated rankings. Schwarz looked like a fighter that didn’t deserve the #2 ranking he’d been given by the WBO.
Fury fires back at Joshua for his comment about Schwarz
Anthony Joshua recently took a shot at Fury for facing such a poor opponent in Schwarz by saying that he should go back to fighting weak opposition too. Fury disagrees with Joshua that the previously unbeaten Schwarz (24-1, 16 KOs) was a lesser fighter by pointing out that the World Boxing Organization had the German heavyweight ranked #2 at the time that he fought him. In Fury’s opinion, the high ranking the WBO gave Schwarz means that he was a worthy opponent for him to fight.
“Where was he ranked? #15 by the organizations?” said Fury to IFL TV. “Tom Schwarz was ranked #2 by the WBO. Why do people keep saying he was 65 in the world or 53 of 125? I have no interest in what Eddie [Hearn] says. His golden goose [Anthony Joshua] was just splattered by a fat man [Andy Ruiz Jr.]. So hes got to try and discredit me to try and look great. He got Joshua beat by Ruiz, because he looked at the man’s body and didn’t study boxing,” said Fury.
Fury defensive about criticism over Schwarz fight
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said last week that Schwarz lacks the talent to even win a British heavyweight title. Hearn is probably right about that, because Schwarz wouldn’t last long against Daniel Dubois or Nathan Gorman. Those two hard hitters are battling for the vacant British title next month on July 13 in London, England. If Schwarz can’t handle Fury’s power, he surely wouldn’t be able to take the much harder shots from Dubois and Gorman.
What Fury isn’t saying is that the sanctioning bodies often rank less talented fighters high in their rankings. Schwarz looked nothing like a fighter ranked #2. He was beyond poor against Fury, and he was equally bad against journeyman Senad Gashi last year. The WBO had their reasons for ranking Schwarz at #2 with their organization, but he was badly over his head against Fury. The way that Fury easily took care of Schwarz reflected badly on the WBO for ranking the German fighter so highly. A good fighter wouldn’t have been dominated the way Schwarz was by Fury. They would have given Fury problems.
Jarrell Miller fight interests Fury for October
“Whatever Bob [Arum] says, but I’m fighting in October in New York City,” said Fury. “I think Deontay Wilder is fighting at the end of October. Yeah, I’m open to fighting Jarrell Miller, no problem. Jarrell Miller is an option. He’s highly rated. He’s 23-0. He’s the highest rated available opponent. He’s popular because of the scandal. I’d be open to negotiating with Big Baby, for sure. Jarrell Miller is someone I would consider. They want an American. I can’t think of another American. I’d say Jarrell Miller is more popular than [Adam] Kownacki. Who else is there?” said Fury.
It’s a little early for ‘Big Baby’ Miller to be returning to the ring after testing positive several times for banned substances during the training for his canceled fight against Anthony Joshua on June 1. Miller tested positive for the banned substances GW501516, EPO and HGH. The New State Athletic Commission responded to those positive tests by denying Miller his boxing license to fight. That took place last month. Depending on whether Miller has been suspended or not, it’s possible that Fury could fight him in October.
Without a doubt, Miller would be a huge upgrade over Schwarz in terms of talent, and it’s important that Top Rank find someone good for Fury this time. The low ticket sale numbers for the Fury vs. Schwarz fight reflect that the American boxing fans weren’t in seeing this mismatch live. Miller is well known with hardcore fans in the U.S. He’s not seen as a major talent, but he’s a decent level fighter. He’s a better talker than he is a fighter. If nothing else, Fury vs. Miller will attract interest from the trash talking the two will be doing.
Fury: Schwarz almost broke my jaw
“Tom Schwarz hit me with a left hook in the first round, and almost broke my jaw,” said Fury. “So I thought, ‘I’m getting you out of there before you do some damage to me.’ I wanted to be aggressive in America the way you need to do, and I got a good stoppage. I was happy to get him out of there. They say Tyson Fury is the master of boxing, but to say, ‘Tyson Fury can’t punch,’ is an absolute joke. Believe me; I hit as hard as any heavyweight in the world if not harder,” said Fury.
Fury looked vulnerable on several occasions against Schwarz when he got hit hard by him. It makes you wonder whether Fury’s punch resistance isn’t the same since he was knocked out in the 12th round by WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder last December. Fury was able to get back up from the knockout due to the referee giving a count to him, but he was clearly knocked out. It doesn’t matter that Fury was able to resume fighting. What’s important is the after effects of Fury getting hit with that right hand bomb from Wilder. Is Fury’s punch resistance gone? If so, Fury won’t last too much longer as an unbeaten fighter.
Fury says he’s the “strongest man in the division”
“In order to throw heavy bombers, you need to plant your feet, bend your knees, and I let them rip,” said Fury. “But when you do that, you get them back like we saw with Joshua last week. He who tries to land bombers usually gets stopped. Look at [Wladimir Klitschko]. When he tried to get stoppages earlier in his career, he would get chinned. I’m the master of the style of moving and not getting hit. Why do I want to put myself at their level to get hit? I’m the strongest man in the division,”said Fury.
