Is Tyson Fury history’s heavyweight champion?

There is room to debate because of his inactivity or on-again/off-again retirement announcements. In the purest of terms, he remains the man who beat the man and he hasn’t lost since. If Fury wins Saturday (ESPN+, 7 PM EST) as he is highly expected to, it will be the fifth time he has defended his station.

If we’re holding Fury to a champion’s standards, it is the worst reign as lineal king of the division since George Foreman’s second turn as champion in the mid-1990s.

After Foreman’s inspiring knockout victory over Michael Moorer in 1994, Foreman won a dubious decision over Axel Schultz, shed his alphabet belt trappings, and continued on billing himself as the lineal king of the class. He was and earned it in the ring. He defended it next against Crawford Grimsley and Lou Savarese before receiving his own dubious loss to Shannon Briggs.

Foreman, closer to 50 than 40 by then, was only going to get so much grief. He’d already given at the office in a two-part career marking him as one of the great big men ever.

Fury is still closer to his 20s than he is his 40s. Fury, to many eyes, did enough to earn the points win over Deontay Wilder last year. It was an excellent performance bolstered by the guts and recuperative ability he showed to come off the deck in the twelfth round. It’s not to say he hasn’t fought anyone since resuming his career in 2018.

It is to say that he seems to be basically taking 2019 off after declining to pursue an immediate rematch with Wilder. Many heavyweight champions have had breather opponents between big fights. After Fury’s time off and what he showed against Wilder last year, it’s okay to expect more from someone staking their place as the real king of the mountain.

Can Otto Wallin, praised by many as one of the division’s more interesting prospects in the last year, step up to show he’s a real challenger after all?      

Let’s get into it.

Stats and Stakes

Tyson Fury

Titles: Lineal World Heavyweight (2015-Present, 4 defenses)

Previous Titles: TBRB/Ring/WBA/IBF/WBO (2015-16)

Age: 31

Height: 6’9

Weight: 254 ½ lbs.

Stance: Orthodox

Hails from: Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Record: 28-0-1, 20 KO

Rankings: #1 (Ring, Boxing Monthly), #2 (TBRB, ESPN), #4 (BoxRec)

Record in Major Title Fights: 1-0 (4-0-1 including lineal title fights)

Last Five Opponents: 186-8-1 (.956)

Current/Former World Champions Faced: Steve Cunningham KO7; Wladimir Klitschko UD12; Deontay Wilder D12

Vs.

Otto Wallin

Age: 28

Title/Previous Titles: None

Height: 6’5 ½ 

Weight: 236 lbs.

Stance: Southpaw

Hails from: Sundsvall, Sweden

Record: 20-0, 13 KO

Press Rankings: Unranked

Record in Major Title Fights: 1st title opportunity

Last Five Opponents: 93-27-2 (.770)

Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: None

The Pick: Wallin is highly unlikely to win this fight. He’s not experienced enough, isn’t a huge puncher, and while his southpaw stance and size should make it interesting in spots he’s not yet shown the sort of ring IQ Fury carries. That’s okay. Wallin can win here even in defeat. Rounds with Fury will make him better in the long run and if he makes the most of his effort he’ll do more to get his name out than anything so far in the Swede’s career. Fury will return to top action soon enough. The Wilder rematch is coming. Fury by decision is the pick here.               

Rold Picks 2019: 54-13

Additional Weekend Picks

Jaime Munguia TKO Patrick Allotey

Emmanuel Navarrete Dec Juan Elorde

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com