Otto Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs) put in a great effort in losing to lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The scorecards hopelessly bad in favor of Fury, and few boxing fans agree with them. The judges had it 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. Wallin says he doesn’t agree with those wide scores by the judges, and his promoter Dmitry Salita thinks they’re “ridiculous.”
(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada)
Given how off the scoring was compared to how fans saw the fight, a rematch would make a lot of sense. Fury and his promoters at Top Rank obviously aren’t going to give Wallin, 28, another shot. They’re moving on to the rematch with WBC champion Deontay Wilder. There’s more money in a fight between Fury and Wilder than there is in a risky rematch with Wallin.
Wallin: Fury has some pop in his punches
“I’m happy I left everything in the ring. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. I made a good fight, and I should get the respect that I deserve,” said Wallin to Behind The Gloves. “I hope I get it. He’s obviously the best fighter I’ve ever fought. He beat me, and he’s a great champion. He’s a big guy.
Everyone in the heavyweight division can punch, and Tyson has some pop. I wasn’t hurt or anything, but he’s a big guy. He deserves respect, Tyson. No,” Wallin said when asked if he agrees with the scorecards.
Fury was mostly slapping with his shots. Wallin has never fought a big puncher before, so he’s easily impressed. But in looking at the fight, Fury wasn’t hitting with a lot of power. He was throwing combination shots that were bothering Wallin in the later rounds. Wallin gassed out after the 6th, and didn’t get his second wind until the 12th. He hurt Fury in the 12th with a left hand, and beat him up a little before the round ended.
Wallin’s promoter says 7-5 is a fair score
“I would say probably 7-5 would be fair,” said Wallin’s promoter Dimity Salita when asked what he thought of the scorecards. “Some of the middle rounds could have gone either way. Otto definitely won the first 4. He won the 12th round, and he definitely won one or two in the middle. So, I think that because Tyson is such a star, and when he punches the crowd goes wild, that obviously had an effect on everybody.
There were a couple of rounds where he had some great combinations. But I definitely think the scores were much closer than the judges [scored it]. It definitely wasn’t 119-110. That’s ridiculous. I definitely don’t agree with that. No one agrees with that. I don’t think the scorecards reflected the reality of what took place in the ring,” said Salita.
7-5 or 6-6 are scores that make sense. Salita believes that Wallin won 5 of the first 6 rounds, and then round 12. That means Salita views the fight as a draw. Wallin did in fact appear to win five of the first six rounds, and he clearly won the 12th after hurting Fury. A draw wouldn’t be out of order. Salita points out that the crowd cheered each time that Fury would land anything.
The judges were likely influenced by the cheering from the pro-Fury crowd, and that made it impossible for Wallin to win the fight or even get a draw. The scoring was so lopsided though. It was hard to understand why the judges would score it in such a manner for a fight that was clearly an even match. The first half was totally dominated by Wallin, and the second half by Fury except for the 12th.
Wallin is #2 in world behind #1 Fury says Salita
“I think Otto deserves some rest,” said Salita. “Go back home and maybe by the end of this year or early next year, he’ll be back. As soon as he’s ready, he’ll be back. I think a heavyweight world title in definitely in his future. Possibly in the middle or the end of next year, I believe he’s going to have another opportunity for a big fight and for a world title. Everybody is impressed. They’ve never seen Otto, and he couldn’t have done a better job. He also showed heart, and a tremendous chin.
He [Wallin] showed everything you want in a fighter. He showed a good punch. He showed a chin, and he showed heart. And he showed the ability to come back after a tough round, and he won the last round. In the 12th round, he almost stopped Tyson, which is tremendous. I think he did a fantastic job. He did everything but get the win, but if Tyson is #1 in the world, he’s #2, inches from #1. Next year when he gains more experience, he’s going to be #1,” said Salita.
Fury is definitely not #1 in the heavyweight division. In looking at the fight, Fury looks more like a #7 in the division right now behind these fighters:
- Deontay Wilder
- Andy Ruiz Jr.
- Dillian Whyte
- Daniel Dubois
- Joe Joyce
- Anthony Joshua
Wallin doesn’t agree with scoring for fight
“I definitely agree with Dmitry,” said Wallin about the scoring for the fight. “I just came out of the fight. I want to watch it and see. Hopefully, I showed everybody I’m a good fighter, and I’m going to be back at this level, and I’m going to come back better. I’ve got to come back better. Hopefully, everybody saw what we saw,” said Wallin.
Otto won’t be happy when he sits down and sees the fight, because he’s likely going to feel he deserved a draw or a close decision loss. A rematch between Wallin and Fury would make sense, but it probably won’t ever happen. Fury is talking about fighting Wilder twice in a row, and then he wants to face the Joshua vs. Ruiz winner If Wilder beats Fury in the rematch in February, then there’s a chance Wallin could get another fight against him.
