By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten heavyweight Tyson Fury of Manchester, England will be defending his lineal title against undefeated Otto Wallin of Sweden this Saturday, Sept. 14th. The 12-round fight will be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and can be seen in America on ESPN+ while British fans can catch it on BT Sport 1 and those in Canada can see it on TSN 2. Fury last fought in June when he stopped Tom Schwarz of Germany in the second round while Wallin last saw action in April when he went a round with Nick Kisner in a no-decision after Kisner was cut from an accidental headbutt.
The 31-year-old Fury looked impressive against WBC Champion Deontay Wilder last December when the two fought to a draw even though he was decked twice along the way. He needed to look good though since he was terrible when stopping Sefer Seferi after the fourth round in June, 2018 and in his 10-round decision over Francesco Pianeta two months later. He did what he had to against Wilder, but his questionable chin possibly turned a victory into a draw.
But other than his bout against Wilder, Fury has achieved one moment of glory as a professional boxer and that came in November of 2015 when he upset Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision to win the IBF, WBO, IBO, WBA and lineal world titles. His last bout in June against Schwarz was another bout against a no-name opponent and fans are now going to be subjected to the same thing this weekend when he meets the unknown Wallin. After beating Klitschko, Fury was soon stripped of his belts and suspended for drug use, but he does lay claim to the lineal heavyweight crown.
Fury is one of the bigger heavyweights out there as he stands 6-feet-9-inches tall with a wingspan of 85 inches. He enters the ring with a mark of 28-0-1 along with 20 Kos and has 174 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008 following a good amateur career. He has better-than-average power, at least on paper, with a current knockout ratio of 69 per cent. Fury possesses some good, but awkward and unconventional boxing skills and also been been dropped by Steve Cunningham and Neven Pajkic.
Fury’s biggest win was obviously against Klitschko but it was a terrible fight for the fans and Klitschko basically gave his titles away by not engaging with him. Other than that, Fury has beaten some pretty good journeymen along the way such as Pianeta, Christian Hammer, Dereck Chisora (twice), Joey Abell, Cunningham, Kevin Johnson, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento and Vinny Maddalone. Since turning pro Fury has also captured the English, Commonwealth, British, Irish, European, WBO Inter-Continental and WBO International Heavyweight Titles.
Wallin is a southpaw who hails from Sundsvall, Sweden and the 28-year-old also carries around a perfect record. He’s 20-0 with 13 Kos and has boxed just 90 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 and has a reach of 78 inches. However, he gives up seven inches in reach to Fury along with 3.5-inches in height. Wallin has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 62 per cent.
The biggest problem with Wallin is the quality of opponents he’s faced so far as nobody’s really heard of them. He stopped Gianluca Mandras in the fifth round in 2017 to lay claim to the vacant WBA Continental Heavyweight Title and a year later he captured the EBE European Heavyweight Crown via a unanimous decision over Adrian Granat. He’s also faced the likes of Srdan Govedarica, Raphael Zumbano, Osborne Machimana, Samir Kurtagic and Vladimir Goncharov.
Prediction…
Fury utilizes his style and size advantage since he’s typically at risk if he stands and fights due to his questionable chin. In a way, his chin has helped him perfect his movement and boxing skills. He’s always vulnerable to a flush power punch and that appears to be Wallin’s only chance here. Wallin needs to wade in and land as many heavy shots as he can or he’ll simply be outboxed. It’s easier said than done though because of Fury’s height and reach advantages. If Wallin’s chin is solid though and he can take a few shots while closing the distance he has a slight chance. However, I’m basically expecting this to be a replay of the Fury vs Schwarz contest so I’ll go with Fury.
