Otto Wallin is as aware as any heavyweight just how difficult it is to beat Tyson Fury.
After spending 12 rounds in the ring with the unbeaten WBC champion, Wallin can’t see a path to victory for Dillian Whyte in their 12-round title fight next month. Wallin expects Fury to dominate Whyte en route to a wide win on the scorecards April 23 at Wembley Stadium in London.
The Swedish southpaw feels Fury could stop Whyte as well, but he “wouldn’t bet” on their pay-per-view main event resulting in a knockout or technical-knockout victory for Fury.
“Fury will be a big favorite for me,” Wallin told BoxingScene.com. “I think he’s gonna handle him. Whyte doesn’t have fast hands or fast feet, and you need that to beat Fury. I see Fury handling him.”
London’s Whyte will still be dangerous, according to Wallin, due to his trademark left hook and right hand.
“Whyte has power and always a puncher’s chance, but Fury’s a smart guy,” Wallin said. “He’s bigger, he’s a great boxer and he can be aggressive, too. So, I see Fury winning that fight. The way he handled [Dereck] Chisora, he might be able to do the same with Whyte.”
The 6-foot-9, 276-pound Fury defeated Chisora by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight in July 2011 at Wembley Arena in London. Fury overwhelmed the rugged Chisora in their rematch three years later, when he stopped Chisora following the 10th round of a one-sided encounter in November 2014 at ExCel Arena in London.
Wallin (23-1, 14 KOs, 1 NC) was much more competitive in his fight with Fury in September 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The 6-foot-5, 236-pound Wallin’s left hand opened a cut above Fury’s right eye during the third round and caused problems for the enormous Manchester native for nine-plus rounds. Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) won comfortably on all three scorecards (118-110, 117-111, 116-112), yet the previously unproven Wallin emerged as a much tougher opponent for Fury than anticipated and established himself as a legitimate contender.
The 31-year-old Wallin was supposed to box Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) on October 30 at O2 Arena in London. Whyte withdrew from a 12-round main event DAZN was supposed to stream the previous week due to a shoulder injury.
Whyte-Wallin wasn’t rescheduled because Whyte, the WBC’s mandatory challenger for Fury’s championship, wanted to go straight to that title shot. Caesars Sportsbook lists Fury as a 6-1 favorite over Whyte.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
