Who Won the Weekend? Fury, Fully–“The Gypsy King” Was Boss in Las Vegas

The outing fit the setting to a T. Pomp and peagantry and music and dancing…and a KO, to boot.

The Las Vegas touchdown from The Gypsy King Tyson Fury had to be seen as a success, even if you are foe Tom Schwarz. The German seemed to be happy to be along for the wild ride and even though he got pinata'd by the long and tall Top Rank signee, he appeared to appreciate the memories.

Yes, Fury gets my nod for Who Won the Weekend; but this is a team effort, and so I ask the NYF squad to weigh in, and give me their votes and takes from the fights.

“In keeping it “club,” Carlos Caraballo (12-0) won the weekend,” said Abe Gonzalez. “This bantamweight prospect from Cotto Promotions had a huge second-round knockout victory on Thursday night during GBP's Facebook Live event. He has been staying busy and with every win being by knockout, he will be one to watch in the future.”

Kelsey McCarson, still on Cloud 10 off that BWAA first place win, who won the weekend on your scorecard?

“Tyson Fury won the weekend,” McCarson said. “It was important for him to put on a good show this week. While his resurrection against Deontay Wilder was impressive, it's sometimes easier for talented addicts to do big things once than it is for them to do the right thing consistently over time. Fury looked great on Saturday night against Tom Schwarz. You could really tell he had put in the work to become the best he can possibly be. He didn't just look as good as he did in his draw against Wilder. He looked better, so it's conceivable that he could look even better and better each time out. That should be a sobering thought for the rest of the heavyweights in the division. Fury might be the best heavyweight in the world right now and for some time, too. In fact, he really could be on his way to becoming an all-time great.”

“Tyson Fury won the whole damn weekend– even Apollo Creed….

..rolled over in his grave and winked,” said John Gatling. “With brazen pomp and pageantry in Las Vegas on ESPN+, Fury backhanded and swatted controversy from a defiant position of unorthodox convention before going southpaw and morphing into a British gypsy version of Terence Crawford. Fury was sensational, turning Schwarz into the same tomato can under the lights of Sin City, that AJ should've turned Ruiz into if the talent exceeded the hype. Bob Arum is looking smarter with age every day.”

Who won the weekend, please, David Phillips? “I might be the only one to go this route, but I'm picking Mikaela Mayer, who easily won her fight and has set herself up with a title shot. Which if she wins, I honestly believe she could be the first true superstar of women's boxing. I'll also say that anyone who cut off the TV before Tyson Fury sang in his post-fight interview is ahead of the game too.”

“While they may not know it quite yet, the winners are the casual fan base that is slowly being lured back into boxing,” said Jonathan Leir. “In the span of a month, a brash and polarizing American heavyweight had an explosive first round knockout to start the water cooler talk. A Snickers-eating longshot pulled one of the biggest upsets since Buster Douglas' to have the conversations continue to build. And a loud-mouthed technician with the speaker box of the world wide network came out as Apollo and left as Aerosmith. The heavyweight division is back and in turn, boxing is bouncing from the back page to the headlines. More and more eyes are keeping a watchful eye on what they remember being a fun sport to follow. And that is a victory for both casual fans and diehards alike.”

“The Gypsy King himself, Tyson Fury, won the weekend,” said Hamza Ahmed. “Hey, it would be easy to dismiss Tom Schwarz as a no hoper, handpicked in order for Fury to do some of that boxing stuff without breaking much of a sweat, in the same vein Golovkin did last week when he Roll'd over Steve. But Fury made the most of his mismatch and decided to convert a farce into a celebration. Druid-black robed, Freed from Desire by Gala, the all American Apollo Creed – Rocky IV attire, the cheerleaders, James Brown blaring through the PA, a systematic dismantling of Schwarz, a defensive manoeuvre which has now gone viral, sang Aerosmith and then capped of his evening by inviting venerable promoter Bob Arum for a sing along in the post fight presser. What we saw was not just David boxing out of Goliath's body but Fury demonstrating an astute acumen regarding self-promotion in a manner PT Barnum would be proud of. A mismatch turned into an event, a cherrypick converted into a new chapter of the Fury redemption story and a joke of a fight dissected into multiple viral videos. Fury doesn't just grab your attention, he demands it and does it with Darth Vader-esque authority. He captured our attention over the weekend and still has fans and the media buzzing into this week. “Who's next” we ask come September 21/October 5. And that's hopefully one more final pit stop before the big one next spring.”