LAS VEGAS – Joey Gamache thinks that Tyson Fury is about an inch shorter than his listed height, 6-feet-9.
The estimation of Otto Wallin’s trainer aside, a masked Fury still needed to bend down on stage Friday at MGM Grand to go eye-to-eye with Wallin, who stands nearly 6-feet-6. Fury was significantly heavier than Wallin at their weigh-in as well.
England’s Fury stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at 254¼ pounds. Sweden’s Wallin weighed in at 236 pounds for their 12-round heavyweight fight Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
“Twenty-four hours from now,” Fury yelled, “Otto Wallin will feel the Fury!”
The 31-year-old Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs) was 9¼ pounds lighter than he was when he weighed in for his previous fight. The former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion weighed 263½ pounds for his second-round, technical knockout of Germany’s Tom Schwarz (25-1, 17 KOs) on June 15 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Fury’s weight was more in line Friday with what he weighed for his 12-round split draw with WBC champion Deontay Wilder on December 1 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Fury, who got to nearly 400 pounds during his self-destructive two years away from boxing, weighed in at 256½ pounds the day before he survived two knockdowns against Wilder.
Wallin, meanwhile, was nearly nine pounds heavier Friday than for his last fight. The 28-year-old Wallin (20-0, 13 KOs, 1 NC) weighed in at 227 pounds for his April 13 bout with Nick Kisner.
Wallin-Kisner resulted in a no-contest because Baltimore’s Kisner suffered a prohibitive cut during the first round. That mishap and the cancellation of his following fight have limited Wallin to less than one round of action since the unbeaten southpaw out-pointed domestic rival Adrian Granat (15-2, 14 KOs) in their 12-rounder in April 2018 in Sundsvall, Sweden, Wallin’s hometown.
Fury was listed as a 25-1 favorite Friday at the MGM Grand sports book.
ESPN+ will stream Fury-Wallin in the United States as the main event of a nine-bout card. Fury-Wallin likely will start sometime around midnight ET/9 p.m. PT.
BT Sport Box Office will televise Fury-Wallin as the main event of a pay-per-view telecast in the United Kingdom (£19.95). Fury-Wallin will begin at approximately 5 a.m. BST.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
