Tyson Fury could fight for WBO belt on Saturday – if Ruiz Jr is stripped of title over Anthony Joshua rematch
TYSON FURY claims the WBO world title could be up for grabs when he fights Tom Schwarz - if the board strip Andy Ruiz Jr of one of his new belts for not facing the mandatory challenger next.
The Gypsy King, 30, takes on the German at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Anthony Joshua lost his WBO, WBC and IBF world heavyweight belts when he was defeated by Andy Ruiz Jr at Madison Square Garden.
It means the Snickers-loving sensation was crowned the new world champ.
With talk of a lucrative rematch with AJ for later in the year, Fury reckons the WBO could punish Ruiz for not taking on the mandatory challenger next.
Although in his own mind, he is already a world champion after his controversial draw with Deontay Wilder.
But the chances of the board making a decision before the weekend are incredibly unlikely.
Fury told the Press Association: "I'm hearing now that it could be on the line on Saturday night.
"That's inside information so maybe I shouldn't have said that, though I've said it now anyway, so maybe it'll be on the line on Saturday night.
"There is a chance. It's highly doable, so I've been told, so maybe it'll be for the WBO championship as well.
"When you're the lineal champion that's as big as it gets. It doesn't get any bigger than that. It doesn't matter how many belts (the other heavyweights) have got, they've got to beat Tyson Fury to be number one.
"(If not) the winner of me and Tom Schwarz will be mandatory for the WBO, because it's number three and number two (in the rankings) fighting each other."
Like Joshua, Fury is expected to earn another comfortable victory in America and extend his unbeaten record.
And although Ruiz surprised the world with his victory, Fury is confident he will get the job done this week.
He is now Stateside and making his final preparations before stepping into the ring with Schwarz.
The Gypsy King said of finally arriving in Vegas after vowing never to go there until he had a fight: "It feels absolutely amazing, fantastic.
"I've been to the casinos a couple of times. They've got restaurants so I've had a couple of buffets, walked down the strip and back.
"Once you've been here a day you've seen everything. If you've been in one hotel you've seen them all - there's lot of casinos, lots of stuff to do, pool parties, but stuff I can't really enjoy until after the fight.
"I've got an after-party and pool party - it's going down.
"I'm back where I belong, a year after coming back, back on top of the world as the number one rated heavyweight on the planet."