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Home » Exclusive: Otto Wallin says Tyson Fury “giving boxing a bad look”

Exclusive: Otto Wallin says Tyson Fury “giving boxing a bad look”

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  • 3 min read

Heavyweight contender Otto Wallin, it must be said like many others in the sport, is getting tired of Tyson Fury continually retiring from boxing.

Fury has consistently stated his intention to step away from trading punches, only to reverse the decision days or months later.

It’s been a constant pattern for Fury, who stated he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017. A few years later, his wife Paris spoke about the diagnosis to Good Morning Britain.

“It was a relief; it cemented it. We weren’t wondering if he had something wrong,” she said. “There were demons there from a young age.

“It made accepting what he was going through so much easier. He’s not bad or selfish because he wants to be – it was actually an illness.”

Otto Wallin

Nonetheless, plenty of UK fans are also getting bored of Fury’s constant toying with whether he will fight again. Wallin is no different.

“Personally, I’m getting tired of it. I know not to take anything he [Fury] says seriously,” Wallin told World Boxing News. “But other people do, and that’s why he can just keep going with his back and forth.

“I don’t like it. I think it gives boxing a bad look.”

Asked his thoughts on pricing himself out of a fight with Oleksandr Usyk at $500m before calling out Mahmoud Charr, Wallin responded: “You can’t take anything Tyson says seriously.

“He just says whatever he feels in the moment. But I do think he wants to fight Usyk [eventually].”

If the fight does happen for the undisputed title, Wallin picked his old foe to come out on top.

“It’s hard to go against Fury because of his size and boxing skills. Usyk is very good, but it will be a very big ask for him to beat Fury.

“I’d pick Tyson to win a decision.”

Tyson Fury cuts

Wallin, who fought Fury in 2019 and almost stopped him on a cut, has since been open to a rematch.

However, in the interview with WBN, the Swedish brute no longer believes he’ll get the opportunity. Instead, Wallin is focusing his attention elsewhere to become the mandatory challenger.

“Yes, I am ready to fight him again. But I think he won’t fight me unless I become the mandatory challenger and he’s forced to fight me,” he pointed out.

“I think the cuts that he had were very bad. He had 47 stitches after the fight. If I had those cuts, the doctors would have stopped the fight, for sure.”

Since the Fury loss, the only blemish on his boxing record to date, Wallin has reeled off four straight victories.

Rydell Booker, Kamil Sokolowski, Dominic Breazeale, and Travis Kauffman couldn’t beat Wallin. Those triumphs leave Wallin in a healthy rankings spot and set up for a voluntary opportunity should the circumstances arise.

If not, Wallin needs to face a couple of those rated above him to force a Fury return or a collision with Usyk down the line.

WBN Editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.