Tyson Fury eased to victory on the occasion of his first fight in Las Vegas as he furthered his reputation as the world's finest heavyweight by stopping Germany's Tom Schwarz in the second round.
Fulfilling a lifelong ambition of finally fighting in the Sin City, at the revered MGM Grand, he showed a destructive edge he has rarely previously demonstrated to justify the significant interest he has generated in the US since his fight with Deontay Wilder.
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.
Wearing 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.
Speaking to ESPN after the win, Fury said he was going to "hold 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."
