By Keith Idec

Tyson Fury didn’t need Andy Ruiz Jr.’s huge upset of Anthony Joshua to remind him how quickly fortunes can change in boxing.

The former heavyweight champion never truly cashed in on his own upset of Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 because an array of personal problems forced Fury to give up the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO titles before he could defend those belts against Klitschko in an immediate rematch. Now that he’s in position to land another heavyweight championship rematch with WBC champ Deontay Wilder, Fury isn’t about to miss out on that type of opportunity again.

The brash Brit emphasized during a conference call Monday that he isn’t thinking about boxing Wilder or anyone else as he heads toward his fight Saturday night against Germany’s Tom Schwarz. ESPN+ will stream the main event between the 6-feet-9, 260-pound Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) and the 6-feet-5, 240-pound Schwarz (24-0, 16 KOs) from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).

“I’m only thinking about Tom Schwarz at the minute,” Fury said. “Whatever happens in that fight, it will happen. But you can only look at one opponent at a time. What Wilder’s doing is none of my concern, to be honest, none of my concern at the minute.”

Fury referred to Wilder’s announcement on social media May 31 regarding he and Fury having an agreement in place for a rematch early in 2020. For that to happen, Fury would have to beat Schwarz and another undetermined opponent later this year and Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) would need to defeat Luis Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) in their rematch either in October or November.

“They’re all good fights,” Fury said. “Any fights the Gypsy King’s involved in is a good fight. And as we saw last week [with Ruiz-Joshua], you can’t overlook anybody. This is heavyweight boxing. And Tom Schwarz knows if he beats Tyson Fury, then he’s set for life. He becomes a multi-millionaire, he gets to headline big shows and all his dreams come true. So, am I gonna underestimate a guy like that? I don’t think so. Not at all.” 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.