Report: Tyson Fury To Face Otto Wallin September 14 In Las Vegas
Tyson Fury’s next opponent is reportedly set.
After weeks of waiting, Fury has agreed in terms to fight unbeaten heavyweight contender Otto Wallin, per a report from Keith Idec of Boxing Scene. The fight is set to take place on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on an ESPN platform.
The news ends the search for someone to take on Fury, who is currently on a path to a rematch against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. After Fury signed a multi-fight promotional deal with Top Rank Boxing, Fury fought another undefeated European heavyweight in Tom Schwarz on a fight that also took place in Las Vegas. Fury ended up beating Schwarz in the second round of their fight that was streamed on ESPN+.
Afterwards, Fury had tried to find a highly-ranked American boxer to face him next. Fighters that fit that criteria that were under consideration were Jarrell Miller, Charles Martin and Trevor Bryan.
Fury briefly ruled over the heavyweight division when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko in late 2015 to capture the WBA, WBO and IBF titles. After a drug suspension and retirement period, Fury returned in 2018, fighting three times, including a fight against Wilder last December that ended in a draw. Wilder and Fury are planned to have their rematch in early 2020 though that is not set in stone and is dependent on Fury winning his next fight and Wilder beating Luis Ortiz in a rematch yet to be officially announced.
The fight is a massive step-up in competition for Wallin, who hasn’t seen action past the first round in a fight since April 2018 when he captured the EBU European Union heavyweight title. Since that fight, Wallin signed with promoter Dmitry Salita and his first bout under the deal, Wallin’s first in the United States, ended in a no contest when Nick Kisner was unable to continue fighting due to a cut.
Wallin, who is also ranked No. 4 by the WBA and No. 11 by the IBF, was supposed to fight BJ Flores on July 12 in Tacoma, Washington on a Showtime-televised card. The fight was scrapped hours before Showtime went on the air after Flores was not medically cleared by the Washington State Department of Licensing.
