By David Robinett at ringside
Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
In a bloody grinder of a fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the “Gypsy King” Tyson Fury retained his claim to the lineal heavyweight title, surviving a spirited challenge from previously undefeated contender Otto Wallin with a unanimous decision win by scores of 116-112, 117-111, and a too wide 118-110.
Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs), who at 254.5 pounds was the lightest he has been in the ring since defeating Vladimir Klitschko in 2015, was not as sharp as his effort in June against Tom Schwarz, spending much of the early rounds flicking an ineffective jab and missing Wallin more than he was connecting with his typical unorthodox, jittery style. Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs) was game, unafraid to take the fight to the champion, but he also struggled finding a way past Fury’s arms and shoulders to connect cleanly with consistency.
A Wallin punch opened a cut over Fury’s right eye in round three, and as the cut opened up and grew progressively worse in the next few rounds, the complexion of the fight changed dramatically, as both Fury and Wallin fought with more urgency under the specter of a doctor’s stoppage, the steady flow of blood turning Fury’s white trunks a dull pink. Round seven featured good two-way action, with a Fury straight right hand sending Wallin bouncing back against the ropes. In rounds nine through eleven, Fury’s superior skills and strength started to wear Wallin down, with Fury landing most of the heavy shots and putting Wallin on the verge of going down several times.
Instead of a late knockout though, Wallin turned the tables on Fury in the round twelve, hurting the champion with a series of punches and forcing Fury to alternate holding and keeping out of range to survive the round. In the end, Fury earned the well-deserved victory, and Wallin likely staked himself a perch among the other top heavyweight contenders.
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Jajajaja
VIVA Sweden!
VIVA USA!
Deontay will destroy a Fury based on that performance.
Is the Jajaja for Spanish laughter or is it for the Swedish Yesyesyes? Deontay looked bad against Ortiz and Fury. Joshua got schooled by Ruiz and now Fury looked beatable. Haven’t you figured out that talk is cheap Juanito? You kids in this comments section talk a lot of crap about this “bum” and that “bum” like you know what’s act going to happen! If your prediction comes true you puff out your chest like you’re some kind of genius. Grow up Juanito, Jonathonito and other assorted loudmouths. Banana republic Juanito? The editor is probably censoring you because maybe you went TOO far with a comment. You “sabios” should at least be respectful and also check your spelling and punctuation before you hit submit. Racism especially has no place here. If you can’t say it to a man’s face please clam up. Pretend that you’re still in high school when you had to watch your mouth so you wouldn’t get your ass kicked big-time. I see a lot of negative and racist comments about Ruiz, Munguia and others because of their ethnicity. It’s the announcers and media that cause a lot of resentment because of “Mexican style”, “Aztec Warrior” and other labels that are put out ad nauseam till you want to jump out of a friggin’ window!
I know I should clean up my act but one typo is allowed, right?
And I’ve yet to receive an answer to my question about what’s to celebrate or be proud of a certain indifferent, direful country.
The U.S. is often and openly vilified, maligned and denigrated by many of those that came here seeking opportunity, freedom and safety while the countries they fled are unjustifiably espoused, celebrated and praised.
I just don’t get it!
I think that emotional, nationalistic comments should be entirely avoided in a boxing forum like this one.
We are all fans of boxing and at least I couldn’t care less where a boxer comes from. I only look at the ability and personality of a boxer, and never at his country of origin.
If all these unnecessary nationality attacks, prejudices, etc. in here could be avoided, we’d have a much more interesting and quality forum.
Let’s leave the personal attacks and politics out and stick to boxing topics – that’s what this site is all about.
Ask trump that question! His father’s dad, mother and wives all came from foreign countries yet he constantly put down the USA when Obama was President , he currently sides with Russia over our USA intelligence agencies and he says he wants to make America great “again” implying that we are not great now
Racism, to many people, is EVERYWHERE in EVERYTHING nowadays! You can’t criticize a fighters style, heart, hypocrisy or braggadocio without being accused of it. It’s the weapon of choice by those who can’t defend their viewpoint, it’s an irrational if not sanctimonious defense.
I’ve never threatened, insulted or labeled anybody as you have.
There is so much open naked racism in our country that you can google racist rants and a thousand videos will pop up. Plus the president is a proven racist who had to settle two of the largest racial housing discrimination lawsuits in American history, says an highly decorated American federal judge who happens to have Mexican descent can’t judge his case because “he’s Mexican and I’m building a wall”, he took out a full page ad calling for the execution of 5 wrongly accused black and brown teens accused of raping a white jogger then when they were exonerated by dna evidence and caught the guy who actually did it when asked he said he thought they were still guilty, he reposts content from known white nationalist sites, she a black man won his apprentice show for the first time he immediately asked him would he share his victory with the white runner up whom he beat, he called Mexicans rapist and drug dealers and “ some ,I guess are good people” but had no problem pointing out the “very fine people” among the hundreds of alt right nazis who were marching through the streets of Charlottesville shouting “Jews will not replace us!” and the old Nazi chant “ Blood and soil”. You cry race baiting but ignore the very real racism problem we have in out great nation! We have bastards going into mosques, and synagogues specifically to kill because of race or creed we have people who drive for 10 hours to slaughter Mexican Americans at Walmart while they are back to school shopping and you say there’s no problem? There is also undeniable racism in boxing and it’s been that way since the beginning. You can easily trace its origins and go right up to today blind boy
Deontae knocked Ortiz down for the first time and out for the first time and Ortiz is one of the top heavyweights so how did he look bad
I agree with you, if it had been Wilder, he would have been stopped. He looked really uncomfortable in there., even before the cut.
Decent win for Fury. Seems a fighter that only gets “up” for big fights so needs to be careful. Solid win over a solid opponent though
Solid win?
Which fight were you watching?
I know right? Fury struggled. Against a relatively light puncher. Can’t see him surviving Wilder or Ruiz.
? he was lucky the fight wasn’t stopped for the cut, but you have already seen him 12 rounds against Wilder. What do you mean?
Wtf are smoking? Already fought wilder.
Ruiz is far to small
He didn’t take this guy serious. Period
Do u seem to forget, that he already beat up Wilder and was robbed?
Robbed? L O L.
Beat up? Excuse me but which one was put on his azz twice in the fight and was down longer than 10 seconds?
He won 10 of 12 rounds on my card; worst case 9. Ignore the cut, and this was one sided.
You’re just a biased fan of that fat little “Mexican” guy…
His name is Andy Ruiz Jr. and he’s the Heavyweight Champion of the World pendejo! When he got knocked down did he run and clinch? No! He went into the eye of the hurricane and proved that our gente have huevos! When will you dummies realize his win was not a fluke and give him the respect that he deserves? So he’s not built like Ramirez, Benevidez, Alvarez, Munguia, Roman, Santa Cruz, Vargas, Navarette, Berchelt, Neri, and Estrada. Did I leave any out Yo? Danny Garcia? He’s Puerto Rican and we love him too!
Again? If Ruiz, and millions like him, had “huevos” and prefer to meet adversity like going into the “eye of the hurricane”….they’d wouldn’t have fled their homeland!
My question again Juanito. Which country spawned you? Again, I seriously hope it’s not Mexico like me. Bye, bye Fightnews.com comments section, it’s been fun.
There’s no way Riz can be AJ.
Little? Since when is Andy Ruiz being a 6’2 250 lb guy little? Are you 10 feet tall or something?
He clearly won that fight mate. That is all I am saying.
I agree, he clearly won the fight BUT judging by Wallins quality of opponents and skill level (which he proved he’s far better than thought), Fury should have won easily thus not a “solid win”.
Wow………………thought for sure they would stop it. Was just as bad as the Vitali Klitchko cut by Lennox Lewis. He lucked out. Don’t see Fury being around in the next year. Wilder can beat him no doubt. Don’t even see him surviving Ruiz. But……………who knows.
Im not surprised. They have invested too much in him. The doctor was called once and after that the ref didnt even look at the cut.
Exactly my thoughts.
That’s what i was thinking too, and those bs commentators made a big deal when Wallin pushed the cut once, but lennox lewis spent the whole night raking his glove and his head into Vitali’s cut and nobody said a thing and they stopped it!
I found everybody except Bradly being very one sided all night. At least Bradley had the guts to say no other named fighter would be allowed to figure somebody at this level. Fury is a light puncher, but anytime he landed they acted like he take Mike Tyson power and not Tyson Fury power.
I haven’t see the fight, but based on what I have been reading, last night was just a
bad night for Fury. Kind of a cherry picking going mildly wrong, because of the huge amount of underestimation.
,Last night was barely an average fight, is an insult compare this fight with Vitali vs. Lewis, that was a battle between two greats, this one wasn’t. IMO Fury’s performance shouldn’t be taken as a parameter to evaluate his chances against Wilder, that’s going to have a different approach
Yeah, but Fury was in a lot better shape last night then when he fought Wilder. You can’t tell how good Fury would have performed in rounds 4 through 12 had he not been cut. He may very well have stopped Wallin. I would still favor Fury / Wilder in the rematch over 12.
There’s no doubt that the cuts influenced the fight in a major way. Chris is right – without the cut, Fury may have taken out Wallin. But then again, the cuts came from legitimate punches, so one has to give Wallin credit.
I see the opinion section on this website being censored as if we were in a banana republic.
Which of those “banana republics” do you trace yourself to Juan Valdez? God, I hope it’s not Mexico!
Everything on the internet now is controlled by the leftist cabal and free speech does not exist online.
Glad to see this started right: Former heavyweight champion. So many forget Fury failed a drug test and would have been striped of the titles, but he retired first. Coming back two years later claiming to be champion is a joke. This fight was better than expected. Fury didnt have a guy looking for a pay day. Wallins stock shot uo wile this had to hurt Fury. I was surprised to see how badly Fury got hurt in the end. It looks like he froze and most likely had Wilder flashbacks.
Derrick: Fury wasn’t busted for PEDS but for recreational cocaine use. The difference: #1 is cheating, #2 is unprofessional.
Fury and his cousin were busted for PEDs, he blamed eating un-castrated bull`s balls, and this was before he met Vlad. He is a cheater.
You don’t have any proof of that but it still sounds funny as hell
Wait a minute. What are “un-castrated” bull balls? Don’t they have to be removed before you eat them? I mean, did he eat them while they were still attached to the bull? Was the bull still alive? That is one tough SOB!
Recreational??? Wtf? Where I want to move there. Recreational?? Recreational?? YAY!!!!!
Your name is Snorter and you don’t know where to get cocaine? Its commonly available in almost any country on the planet.
Recreational doesn’t necessarily mean “legal” but cocaine is used for recreational purpose, not to enhance sports performances. Same like cannabis, which shouldn’t be on a doping list in the first place.
Wilder slaughters this lucky bum.
Fury was hurt worse in the 12th, more than Wallin was throughout the whole fight.
Wallin is a decent ltd tough Sob fringe contender much better than Schwartz,
he brought Tyson into a good old fire fight, glad that wasn’t Wilder or Ortiz or Povetkin in the ring with Tyson tonight, that would have been a true bloodbath.
I haven’t watched the fight yet. Had to work.. but based on the comments I just want to say that remembe.. you have to give credit to the other guy. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Fury was struggling because he sucks. We’ve all seen him outbox wilder for most of the fight. Maybe this guy is better than we give him credit for. I mean, he was undefeated. I admit I don’t know much about him but people always assume that the more popular fighter should always win easily against someone who’s not as popular. Remember what happened to Anthony Joshua? We don’t know the other guys story. How will this guy do against wilder or other heavyweights? We will have to see.. but obviously if he was able to give fury a fight then he’s not a push over. Unless the cut had a lot to do with it idk. I have to watch it and see.
Thank you, a comment that actually makes sense!!
Wallin came to fight and was tough as nails. For a guy with no resume to speak of, he’s got some skills and a ton of heart. He’d beat most heavyweights, even a lot of guys with far more notable names. Fury looked fine sans a bad cut. The fight was relatively close early, but this wasn’t really a close fight at the end. Fury couldn’t get him out of there, but I think that speaks more to Wallin’s heart and chin than it does to Fury’s inability to close the show.
I find Fury unimpressive. He’s not athletic in the least, just tall. His fighting style is so atrocious. The marketing and hype supporting this guy is just too much. He barely beat a mediocre tonight, one who really took it to him. Pathetic.
fury should retire his given up in boxing his not what he use to be
You know Fury is good by the amount of attention he gets. You all hate him so much you just can’t stop talking about him!
Wallin was fighting for honour and was never going down because of his recently deceased Boxer/Trainer Father. He was outclassed and the 12th round was his chance of glory with a solid left hand that rocked Fury. Apart from that it was one way traffic and Fury deserved the win. The commentators mentioned Fury needed a few rounds before he fought Wilder again. There you go..a full 12 workout with a cut disadvantage to boot. Ironically, the Mexican showbiz ring walk was absurd but the real Mexican cut man was amazing round after round. Very enjoyable fight overall. 7 out of 10.
Jorge Capatillo is a Rembrandt
What a war! Tyson still has a lot in him…
That was a very bad cut to fight with all night. It very lucky it wasn’t bleeding into his eye and there was an experienced doctor ringside. A less experienced doctor would have stopped that fight. That aside the fight was very one sided in Fury’s favour. Anyone that’s never boxed should not comment on how a bad cut sagging into your eye will affect your ability to box and move. I also agree with above statements of Fury getting up for bigger fights. And of course styles make fights.
What was YOUR record Joe? Or did you just box in the backyard and got cut there?
Over 50 amateur fights. And you smart ass?
Wallin won more rounds against Fury than Wilder did.And then Fury was fat and out of shape.
Stop being pretentious. Wilder almost knocked Fury out. And, Wilder did win 5 of the 12 rounds in my eyes. The 2 knockdowns justified the draw. In fact, a case could be made that Wilder won that fight.
If you gave Wilder five rounds in addition to the two knockdowns, then you literally know nothing about how to score a boxing contest and probably shouldn’t comment anymore on a boxing website with grown ups.
Dude, totally agree. Wilder won two rounds, maybe three if you’re being generous. Even the rounds with knockdowns, Fury popped up and immediately got back in the fight. Wilder got the gift draw. In another country, Fury wins a unanimous decision. I always wonder about non-North America fighters going onto the continent to fight a native fighter, because we’ve seen these awful decisions a thousand times.
The problem is that the biggest money making fights are mostly in the U.S. – that’s why most fighters sooner or later have to go there.
What’s an ever bigger problem is that you often have 3 U.S. judges in fights with 1 U.S. boxer vs. 1 foreigner. I think it would always be best if all three judges were from a neutral country – at least for championship fights.
Many emotional comments in here, with wide margins of disagreements.
I think the way the fight played out surprised us all. Wallin was much better than expected and Fury had to fight a lot harder to win. Hats off to Wallin for his efforts. His stock has gone up considerably. I am looking forward to future Wallin fights.
Fortunately, there was no controversy with the scoring and Fury won fair and square.
At the same time, there are many alarm bells ringing for Fury now: the cut over the eye looks so bad that its unlikely to heal within just a few months. Next, his performance was gritty but underwhelming. Although he looked like in the shape of his life, he wasn’t sharp in this fight. Something went wrong somewhere, and I think this was a good wake up call for Fury. He will have to make some changes before getting in the ring with Wilder. Its not that he has forgotten how to box, but this performance wouldn’t have been good enough to beat the current top tier fighters in the division.
Fury has a lot to think about and a lot of work ahead of him. All the other top tier fighters must be relieved to find out that he hasn’t been able to pull away from them.
wallin did a lot better than expected, Kudos,
In my eyes, there was no loser last night. Two winners, even though Fury is a much higher league than Wallin. Both boxers improved in stock last night. Good job, gentlemen.
The problem as I see it is the entire heavyweight scene today in general. They are just huge overweight dudes with limited talents. Far from the old school heavyweight fighters. In My opinion the last truely talented heavyweights were Klitschko and Lewis..
James: overweight-looking fighters exited in the past as well as today, and so do fighters who have role model athlete bodies.
Remember Butterbean? Buster Mathis (his highest weight was no less than 550 lbs)? Riddick Bowe? Buster Douglas (320 lbs very soon after his Tyson fight)? Gabe Brown (weighing in at 350+ lbs)?
I think what confused many people is that there are different body types, and not all of them have to be the same. Whenever people see someone like a Jeff Lacey or Deontay Wilder, they automatically assume that they must be good boxers because they have chiseled bodies. Its a self-evident fact that boxers with very different body types can be elite boxers.
Fury weighed in very low for his size and body type.
Based on statistical facts, I think there were more “out of shape” boxers in the past than at present.
The only “fat” boxer in the top 50 of all HW fighters at the moment is Ruiz, but he won his fight against AJ, who has a “role model” body. So, why be critical?
Fury was unlucky he got cut early in the fight, but showed massive heart to still win against a young undefeated fighter.
All the haters and Wilder nuthuggers can try and feed off this to defend Wilder who lost to Fury, but wont make a difference, because this was a good experience and preparation for the rematch for which Fury will knock out the Bronze bummer.
How about Wallin vs Wilder???that would be a good fight. Would love to see Wallin pull an upset.
I think Wallin “benefited” a LOT from busting up Fury’s eye. Let’s see how his next fights go, but he seems to belong to the top 15 to 20 in the division.
Wallin lost all but two or max. 3 rounds, so he’s good but not (yet) great. He may pull off upsets against top #10-20 fighters, but I doubt he could do more than that at this time.
That said, I think Wallin is a better boxer than Wilder, but has probably only a bit more than half of his power. And that’s Wilder’s story: all he needs in a fight is one good punch and he has delivered that in practically all of his fights so far. His fight against Fury was a good example: Wilder lost 10 rounds, but still managed to almost knock Fury out in one of the two rounds he won. On paper, Fury should have won that fight, but the draw is understandable.
Anyways, I think most of us are looking forward to Wallin’s next fight.
Takeaways:
1) Wallin is a decent fighter who never stopped trying. He is pretty limited in the power department and needs to work on his stamina.
2) With just a few more big punches, this fight might have been stopped. It was a bad cut and will take a long time to heal. Someone commented that it was a good tune up for Wilder…incorrect! Wallin fought nothing like Wilder, Fury now has a deep gash and a decent cut on his eye lid to boot that must heal and that means Fury’s plan of activity to keep his demons at bay could be compromised.
3) Fury’s heart and desire were on full display yet again. Some have said he took the fight lightly…I don’t think so. He basically got caught with a shot that cut him and had to change his fight plan. I submit that he’d have fought from range more if he could actually see out of his right eye. Instead, he had to go into the trenches. He did it effectively and nobody on here thinks he didn’t clearly win the fight.
4) Other than Fury’s nasty cut/s this fight had nothing to do with Wilder. Nobody in the history of boxing can simulate what Wilder is anymore than what Fury is. They’re both originals and I’m hoping we get the best versions of them in the rematch.
@ Scott: I have to agree with #1 of your takeaways, but also with #2, 3 and 4 :)) Very nice summary of what just transpired!
Only Wallins mother knew who he was. So in essence it was a major success for both fighters. You all know styles make fights, but you also know that ANYONE (Fury) can and will think that the other man could not hurt me if he came in with a sledge hammer. Look after Fury came back to boxing his career took off again probably because not only was he a big man who could box, but because he is probably the best comedian/actor we’ve seen in the hwt division in many years. Not to mention he made Wilder look like a rank amateur in their fight. Now he comes into the ring with his WWE persona and the fight draws all kinds of people and we have interest in the hwt division because he brings in a lot of people. One thing i’m sure everyone knows, this crazy guy has a huge heart, we’ve seen that with Wilder in the 12 th round and we’ve seen it from him and the bleeding he had to deal with. Wallin just made himself a very marketable fighter, needs some pop, but all in all, a very good night for him. And perhaps a bit of a wake up call for all the comedy Fury brings into the ring, if he settles down the theatrics a bit, he is one very difficult boxer to beat.
made wilder look like a rank amateur? From where, when he was concussed out on his back – not once, but twice? lol
It looks like the Swede went off script, and it also looks like he had a bit of success with his right hand. Fury won comprehensively, and I’m sure was not performing with his same rhythm after the cut opened up. Wallin is a good prospect who deserved some recognition and is likely only a top 25 guy, but he did open up that cut with a legit punch. This shows that Fury is quite hittable and that bad things happen when he takes these shots.
That cut man is at another level. Hall of Fame work there.
i wonder how long this fight had gone if wallin had that cut,espn, dazn, take care of their of fighters, i was rooting on fury but i’ve seen many fights stopped on smaller cuts then that
If anyone following this has an idea how to contact Tyson Fury, I have used a product for many years, including two cuts before my last fight in 03, that help heal cuts MUCH better and MUCH faster than normal or much better than using anything in mainstream product lines. Have him reach me on twitter or FB or here and I will get him the info.
what the hell is a Sabio???
Sabio is Spanish for “wise” or “knowledgeable”, “learned”, etc. but in the context above more likely “know it all”.
Based on the concussion he received in the 1st Wilder fight, and the cuts (stitches) he received in this fight, Fury is walking dead man. Doubt he will ever show up for Wilder #2
2 fights he won easily in most peoples eyes?
He beat the other Klitschko!
Fight should have been stopped = another long count for Fury
Fury is a skilled boxer and a giant who towers over, outweighs and has a longer reach than everyone he fights but with all of those advantages he has light power especially for his size. He fought tough and dug deep against that nobody even though the fight should have been stopped he showed heart. Fury out pitty patted Wilder but with the two knock downs, the long count and the aggression and significant strikes belonging to wilder I think a draw was fine. I expect wilder to touch the giant more and earlier in the rematch but you never know