Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury was taken to deep waters and had to overcome adversity in his bout on Saturday night with undefeated Swede Otto Wallin. Fury went on to win a unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, and 118-110) in Las Vegas on ESPN+, but had to bleed for it.
Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) suffered a huge cut in the third round of the bout. It was caused by a punch and not a headbutt. The cut was so big you could see the flesh inside and it was bleeding profusely.
I thought the fight would be stopped because of the severity, but credit to the cutman Jorge Capetillo working Fury’s corner because he was able to keep the cut from bleeding each round.
Heading into the fight, the majority of boxing pundits and media had Tyson Fury washing out the little known Wallin.
The entire promotion leading up to this fight was all about Fury. I don’t think I saw any media actually giving the Swedish fighter a shot at beating the lineal champion.
Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs) proved a lot of people wrong, including myself. I was fairly impressed at the tenacity and ability Wallin showed. He was very slick on the inside and applied pressure making it difficult for Fury to get his punches off. Wallin also used dirty tactics similar to Bernard Hopkins and the legends of old, like making sure the cut kept opening by rubbing his head on it and using the inside of his glove to reopen it every time.
He was very sneaky and able to make Fury fight for his life in there. The cut certainly affected Fury because it was something he never experienced before. Fury kept wiping his eye and looked at the blood on his glove each time so you know he was distracted by it.
Fury vs. Wallin is an example of why it is dangerous to take on an unknown opponent and to overlook them. It seemed Fury and his camp thought this would be another tune up like the Tom Schwarz fight that came before this when Fury stopped the German challenger early.
Some fans are suggesting Fury over-trained, and took his opponent lightly, that could be the case, but we must give full credit to Otto Wallin for making it a tough fight on Saturday in Las Vegas. If Fury overlooked him and over-trained you cannot blame Wallin for that.
Wallin did what he had to do and that was fight his heart out and apply pressure to stay away from the long range shots of Fury.
I can see Wallin giving any one in the top ten a hard night. He shows he can take a punch and make it a very ugly fight.
Fury on the other hand needs to use this fight as a wake up call. Never overlook an opponent and make sure your conditioning is on point because you cannot count anyone out, this is boxing, like Larry Merchant said it’s the “Theater of the Unexpected” and anything can happen.
I am an avid fan of boxing and video games. My first fight of memory was watching Prince Naseem Hamed destroy Kevin Kelly. I enjoy all aspects of the sport. My favorite current boxer is Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. My favorite boxing match is Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo 1. I love watching boxing on Pay-Per-View more than being there live because you can really enjoy and watch the action from the best view.