Otto Wallin has weighed in on the long-awaited showdown between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, against whom he suffered respective points and stoppage defeats.
First, the Swede collided with Fury in 2019, back when ‘The Gypsy King’ was just two fights removed from his thrilling draw with Deontay Wilder.
Wallin, on the other hand, was a somewhat unknown quantity who, while boasting an unblemished record, had not yet faced even a mid-tier heavyweight.
But still, the tricky southpaw gave Fury a surprisingly arduous night at the office, made worse by two horrendous cuts that appeared over the Brit’s right eye.
Should their fight have been stopped, then Wallin would have claimed a stunning inside-the-distance triumph, even though he was trailing on all three judges’ scorecards.
Remarkably, though, ‘The Gypsy King’ managed to fiddle his way to a 12-round unanimous decision, albeit while requiring 47 stitches above his eye.
As for Wallin’s encounter with Joshua, there was far less two-way action as ‘AJ’ scored a fifth-round finish in 2023, before losing via the same verdict against Daniel Dubois the following year.
Yet despite those two contrasting results, Wallin told Hajper he can see paths to victory for both men, but still makes Fury the favourite.
“Tyson would probably be the favourite, but it’s a very interesting fight.
I think Tyson is a better boxer, but AJ is not to be underestimated. He’s very sharp. He has pretty fast feet and fast hands, and he’s very powerful.
So, if he can land some good shots, it will definitely be a very interesting fight, and a fight that he can also win. But Tyson is a good boxer. He moves well, and he’s smart. When he’s in those big fights, usually he fights very well.”
Fury and Joshua are expected to collide after their respective warm-up fights against Mariusz Wach and Kristian Prenga at the end of this month.
