As had been rumored and expected, LINEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will “defend” his “title” against unbeaten and unproven Swede Otto Wallin in a fight that is remarkably similar to Fury’s heavily-criticized June 15 win over Tom Schwarz.
Fury (28-0-1, 20 KO) wore American flag trunks for his debut in Las Vegas, an emptily glitzy affair where he recreated Apollo Creed’s entrance from Rocky IV, before mowing down the woefully outmatched Schwarz inside of two rounds.
Wallin (20-0, 13 KO) may seem a better opponent because you may have heard his name associated with Showtime cards a couple times, but he’s really not, at least on paper. The 28-year-old Wallin is ranked No. 47 in the world by BoxRec, with a career-best win coming over Adrian Granat in April 2018.
Since then, Wallin had a fight on Showtime truncated in the opening round in April of this year, and a scheduled fight with BJ Flores got canceled. He’s done nothing more than Schwarz had to earn any sort of shot, but hey, like Schwarz, good for him. Of course he took the offer.
There is positive news here, though. Fury, 31, is by all accounts setting up for a spring 2020 rematch with Deontay Wilder — knock on wood — and if nothing else, he is staying busy and active, keeping in shape, keeping sharp. And when Fury is shape and in sharp, there is no tougher heavyweight puzzle to solve than the self-styled “Gypsy King.”
Fury-Wallin will take place in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena, with the fight airing in the US on ESPN+.