By Ian S Palmer
Otto Wallin of Sweden will be meeting fellow heavyweight Rydell Booker of Detroit in a 10-round bout in nearby Dearborn, Michigan this Thursday, May 26th. Wallin was last in the ring in February when he beat Kamil Sokolowski via an eight-round decision. Booker last fought in March when he dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Marcin Siwy.
Wallin is a 31-year-old southpaw who hails from Sundsvall, Sweden and carries around an impressive record of 23-1 with 14 Kos. He’s boxed 127 rounds since making his pro debut back in 2013 after a mediocre amateur career. He’s a good-sized heavyweight as he stands just over 6-feet-5-inches tall with a reach of 78 inches. Wallin has decent power in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 56 per cent.
The biggest problem with Wallin is the quality of opponents he’s faced so far. That being said, he did give Tyson Fury all he could handle in September, 2019 in his only pro loss. He cut Fury up for 47 stitches along the way but dropped a unanimous decision to him. Wallin stopped Gianluca Mandras in the fifth round in 2017 to lay claim to the vacant WBA Continental Heavyweight Title.
A year later he captured the EBE European Heavyweight Crown via a unanimous decision over Adrian Granat. He’s also faced the likes of Dominic Breazeale, Travis Kauffman, Srdan Govedarica, Raphael Zumbano, Osborne Machimana, Samir Kurtagic and Vladimir Goncharov. Wallin’s a heavyweight hopeful who always has a puncher’s chance no matter who he faces due to his size, power and chin.
Booker is now 41 years old and he enters the bout with a mark of 26-5-1 with 13 Ko’s. He turned pro back in 2001 after an excellent amateur career with several cruiserweight titles to his name and was once rated the top amateur heavyweight in America. He built up a 22-1 record as a pro by 2004 with his only loss coming at the hands of James Toney by unanimous decision in a shot at the vacant WBC Continentals America and vacant IBA Heavyweight Crowns.
However, he then ran afoul of the law and was jailed from Sept. 9, 2005 to Aug. 9, 2017 for possession of cocaine and intent to deliver more than 1000 grams. He started his comeback in February of 2018 with a six-round unanimous decision over Rodney Moore and since then he’s also earned six-round unanimous decisions over Terrell Woods and Domonic Jenkins while dropping 10-round unanimous decisions to Jermaine Franklin and Kubrat Pulev while stopping Dieuly Aristidle in three rounds.
Booker’s winless in his last four outings and in five of his past six though as he was stopped by Filip Hrgovic in the fifth round in 2020 in a shot at the vacant IBF International Heavyweight Title and then drew with Ray Austin over six rounds a year later before losing to Siwy in his last outing. Booker stands 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 79-inch reach so gives up 2.5-inches in height to Wallin but has an inch edge in reach. He’s boxed 162 rounds as a pro and has average power with a current knockout ratio of 40.6 per cent.
Prediction…
Wallin is a pretty durable heavyweight who could land a title shot in the future if he steps up his level of competition. Booker’s a solid pro who’s obviously in the twilight of his career at the age of 41. He’ll give it all he has against Wallin but I’m expecting him to fall just short.
