Mohegan Sun, CT - In a battle of heavyweights, Otto Wallin (21-1, 14 KOs) picked up a fifth round stoppage after Travis Kauffman (32-4, 23 KOs) suffered an injury to his left shoulder and the fight was waved off by the referee.
Kauffman was coming off surgery on his left shoulder.
Wallin was using his distance in the first, as Kauffman was looking to get inside. Kauffman was getting more aggressive in the second, as Wallin was still controlling the distance and landing the cleaner punches.
The jab of Wallin was landing often in the third. He was also landing counters and uppercuts. Wallin dominated the action in the fourth. The fifth was more domination for Wallin, with the jab and hard shots from the distance.
During the fifth round action, it appeared that Kauffman injured his left arm and he began to round with only one hand until the fight was waved off.
Following the fight, Kauffman explained that he was going to retire from boxing.
“I tore my left labrum getting ready for the [Luis] Ortiz fight,” Kauffman said. “Like a dummy, I waited five months to have surgery on it after the Ortiz fight [December of 2018]. I started feeling better and was going to do a tune-up fight in March, but then COVID happened. This opportunity [with Wallin] came up and I didn’t want to pass it up and I felt good.
"In the first round I hurt it. I felt it, but then it went away and I thought maybe it’s just my mind and it went away. Then in the fifth round I heard it and that was it. It was torn again.
“I’m done. I’m retiring. I have kids. I’ve been doing this a long time."
