LAS VEGAS — It seems Tyson Fury is trying to make up for lost time.
The lineal heavyweight champion — the man, who beat the man, who beat the man, etc., regardless of belts — was idle for 31 months after outpointing Wladimir Klitschko in a huge upset to win three major titles and the lineage in 2015.
During Fury’s layoff — which was caused by his well-documented struggles with drug and alcohol abuse, and during which he addressed his mental health — he was stripped of belts from three sanctioning bodies.
But since his healthy return in June 2018, Fury has been very active.
He won two tune-up fights and then fought to a heavily disputed draw with world titlist Deontay Wilder in December, before putting off an immediate rematch by signing a co-promotional deal with Top Rank to bring his fights to ESPN platforms.
The “Gypsy King” kicked off the agreement with his ballyhooed Las Vegas debut on June 15, when he crushed then-undefeated German Tom Schwarz in a second-round knockout victory.
Now Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs) returns in short order to fight for the fifth time in only 15 months when he takes on little-known but unbeaten Otto Wallin in the fifth defense of the lineal title on Saturday (ESPN+, main card 11 p.m. ET, preliminaries 7:30 p.m. ET) at T-Mobile Arena.
Though there are big fights in Fury’s future, he says he believes he thrives when he’s active — a key reason for facing Wallin ahead of a planned rematch with Wilder.
“I just want to keep busy because in this game, I think the best thing for any heavyweight is to be active,” Fury said. “I don’t want to sit on the bench for long periods of time and then have to sharpen everything back up. … I’m looking forward to putting on another show in Las Vegas. I expect to have a good fight and knock this guy clean out.”
Just a few months after Andy Ruiz Jr. pulled a massive upset by knocking out Anthony Joshua in the seventh round on June 1 to win three of the four major title belts, Wallin is aiming for his own upset that would rival Ruiz’s. Wallin says he believes he has what it takes.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment for a long time,” Wallin said. “I’ve been envisioning fighting at this level for a long time, so when [Fury] realizes I am there to win and will put up a good fight, and the rounds go on and I’m not going anywhere, then I think it will be more and more pressure for him.”
This is your Ringside Seat for the fight:
Otto who?
1:03
Otto Wallin explains how influential his late father was to him becoming a boxer. For more Top Rank Boxing, sign up here for ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/.
Ben Davison, Fury’s trainer, understands the criticism for taking a fight that seems to be a heavy mismatch (Fury -2500, Wallin +1100 according to Caesars Sportsbook), but he still has done his homework on Wallin.
“Unless Tyson is boxing Wilder or Joshua or maybe Ruiz, people are gonna [criticize you] about the opponent, but Otto Wallin can box,” Davison said. “He has a good skill set, but I don’t blame the public for having skepticism. But he’s a lot better boxer than what people are giving him credit for.”
Even the 28-year-old Wallin (20-0, 13 KOs), a 6-foot-5½, 230-pound southpaw from Sweden, admits he’s an unknown in the United States, where he’ll be boxing for the second time in a row. He also admitted he deserves to be the underdog and views Fury as the world’s No. 1 heavyweight.
Though Wallin is an underdog, he’s a confident one.
“I understand [the criticism of the match] because I haven’t been on this level before and they haven’t seen me fight over here. So it is what it is. I don’t care,” said Wallin, who began boxing at age 15. “I expect to go out there, be in great shape, put on a great performance and beat Tyson Fury.”
“I’m very excited. It’s a dream come true to fight on a big stage and to fight in Vegas against the best heavyweight out there,” Wallin said. “Tyson is a big guy and he’s a very good boxer. He uses his size well, he’s tricky.”
Joey Gamache, a former junior lightweight and lightweight world titlist, who trains Wallin in New York, said Wallin is ready for his close-up.
“Anyone who wants to criticize Otto Wallin, please take a punch from him in the face and then come back and tell me how it feels.”
Tyson Fury
“Otto is a guy who hasn’t been seen much, so nobody really knows anything about him, but he’s a guy who’s very, very capable,” Gamache said. “He has good skills and a good work ethic. This would be an upset, a huge upset. The biggest upset. But Otto’s coming to win. He’s very determined.”
Wallin was nowhere close to Top Rank’s first choice for the fight, but he landed the opportunity of a lifetime when others, such as former world titlist Charles Martin, former secondary titlist Alexander Povetkin and former world title challenger Johann Duhaupas, turned down seven-figure offers.
“Anyone who wants to criticize Otto Wallin, please take a punch from him in the face and then come back and tell me how it feels,” Fury said. “You can only fight who is available at the time.
“They fight that much harder when they fight me because they know they’re one win away from everything they ever dreamed of. I don’t overlook these guys. I’m taking him very, very seriously.”
When Wallin was eventually offered the fight, his team took it immediately. Gamache said Wallin has been eager to step up in class.
“I feel he’s ready to deliver. He’s there for business,” Gamache said. “He’s ready to give the best of himself. I think people are going to be surprised how for real he is. He’s a guy who’s not known and nobody expects anything from him, but mentally and physically he’s a hard, hard worker.”
Wilder rematch awaits
Though Wallin is next for Fury, he already has a deal in place for a rematch with Wilder for a pay-per-view megafight penciled in for Feb. 22. In the meantime, Fury must win and Wilder also must win an interim bout — a rematch with Luis Ortiz that has not been officially announced, but is ticketed for Nov. 23.
Fury, 31, of England, was in the same situation of having to win to preserve the Wilder rematch when he faced Schwarz, and said he remained focused on the business at hand.
“Good things come to those who wait and in time it will happen,” Fury said of the rematch. “It happened once before and I promise you it’s gonna happen again.”
Many, including Fury, believed he deserved the decision over Wilder in December. With two training camps and two more fights before the rematch, Fury says he has no doubt he will win the second time.
“A lot of people around the world had me winning 10 out of 12 rounds. I don’t know how they made it a draw, but it was. I’m not going to cry over spilled milk,” Fury said. “I know I can beat Deontay Wilder whether I box him or whether I knock him out. I can definitely do both things. He will be facing a totally different animal this time because I was out of the ring for [almost] three years and made a comeback and only had two fights back and then fought Deontay Wilder.
“This time Deontay Wilder will be getting a much fitter Tyson Fury, a man who’s been back active for a while now. I think the fight will be dramatically different in my favor.”
Wallin says he isn’t offended that Fury would plan his next fight before facing him.
“I think that’s great for me,” he said. “I feel like there’s even more pressure for him to look good in this fight. He should beat me convincingly and knock me out. Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do? That puts more pressure on him.”
Fury’s focus
Fury says he believes the regularity of his fights since his return not only keeps him sharp in the ring, but also helps him deal with his mental health issues. Pushing the 400-pound mark two years ago also didn’t help his outlook.
“I had three years out of the ring when I didn’t train. I knew if I was ever going to get well again, then I had to start training,” Fury said. “I didn’t train to become a boxer again. That was the last thing that was on my mind at that period. I just wanted to get fit and lose the weight, and within six months of making my return, I jumped in the ring with probably the biggest puncher in heavyweight history, Deontay Wilder. I’m on top of the world again, so it’s been a dream story come true and I believe everything happens for a reason.
“If I have a week out of the gym, I start feeling depressed and down again, so I’m very cautious about going back to them dark places and I never want to go back there ever again.”
Davison has seen Fury’s drive and commitment up close and said the key for Fury is that he enjoys training.
“People always ask what’s the secret to this,” Davison said. “There’s not a secret. We have found the correct balance between enjoying training and effective training. I think it helps knowing Tyson on a personal level that I know what makes him tick, so that helps us keep the focus in camp.”
Davison insisted that even with Wallin being an unknown, Fury has not slacked off or taken him for granted.
“Tyson prepares the same for everybody: Wilder, Schwarz, Wallin, Klitschko,” he said. “He loves to be in the gym. He can’t wait to get to the gym, so that makes training camp a lot easier.”
Rafael’s prediction: Fury by mid-rounds knockout.