Otto Wallin

Einar Otto Wallin (born 21 November 1990) is a Swedish professional boxer. He held the WBA Continental heavyweight title in 2017 and won the EBU European Union heavyweight title in 2018.

Otto Wallin
Statistics
Real nameEinar Otto Wallin
Nickname(s)"All In"[1]
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)
Reach1.98 m (78 in)
NationalitySwedish
Born (1990-11-21) 21 November 1990
Sundsvall, Sweden
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights23
Wins21
Wins by KO14
Losses1
No contests1

Amateur career

Wallin comes from a working-class family. His father and one of his brothers boxed, and he began boxing when he was 15.[2] As an amateur, he won the Swedish championship for beginners in 2008.[3] There were few heavyweights available to fight in Sweden, where professional boxing was banned until 2007,[4] so Wallin would often fight whoever and whenever in order to stay active.[5][6]

In 2009, Wallin won a bronze medal at the Swedish Youth National Championships in the heavyweight division,[7] and won the Ruska Tournament in the super-heavyweight division.[8] In 2010, Wallin won silver at the Swedish National Championships,[9] and silver at the Haringey Box Cup, losing to Anthony Joshua on points in the final.[10] He also won silver at the 2010 Ruska Tournament.[11]

Wallin lost to Joshua on points again in a Sweden–England dual match in Stockholm in January 2011.[12] He then won bronze at the Swedish National Championships in February,[13] silver at the Nordic Championships in March,[14] gold at the Algirdas Socikas Tournament in May,[15] gold at the Haringey Box Cup in June,[16] and gold at the Riga Open Tournament in December.[17]

In January 2012, Wallin defeated Frazer Clarke 32:11 in a Sweden–England dual match in Uppsala,[18] which qualified him for the 2012 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament.[19] Wallin won bronze at the Gee-Bee Tournament in March, losing to Magomed Omarov in the semi-finals.[20] At the European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in April in Trabzon, Turkey, he was eliminated in the round of 16 by Mihai Nistor.[21] Wallin finished with an amateur record of 34–12.[22]

Professional career

Wallin turned professional at the age of 22, in 2013. He trained under Torsten Schmitz for six months in Berlin, Germany, then moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he met former two-weight WBA world champion Joey Gamache, who became his trainer. Wallin followed Gamache to New York after Gamache left Denmark.[23]

After racking up a 19–0 record and winning the WBA Continental heavyweight title, Wallin defeated Adrian Granat (15–1, 14 KOs) to win the vacant Swedish and EBU European Union heavyweight titles in April 2018. Wallin won by unanimous decision 117–111, 117–112, and 118–110.[24] As a tall southpaw, he has also been a sparring partner for Anthony Joshua, Jarrell Miller and Adam Kownacki.[25]

Wallin then made his United States debut against Nick Kisner (21–4–1, 6 KOs) in April 2019, but the fight ended in a no contest after an accidental clash of heads opened a cut above Kisner's eye in the first round.[26] He was set to fight BJ Flores (34–4–1, 21 KOs) in July, but Flores was ruled medically unfit to fight on the day of the scheduled bout.[27][28]

On 14 September 2019, Wallin faced the former unified heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury (28–0–1, 20 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.[29] Wallin lost the fight by unanimous decision, with the scorecards reading 116–112, 117–111, and 118–110. He opened up a large cut above Fury's right eye in the third round with a left hand, which affected Fury's vision for the rest of the fight. A ringside doctor examined the cut in the sixth and deemed Fury able to continue. The examination by the doctor seemed to motivate Fury, as he poured on the pressure afterwards, hurting Wallin repeatedly with solid shots. Despite fatiguing in the second half of the fight, Wallin came back in the twelfth and landed a strong left hand which seemed to trouble Fury. Commentators stated Wallin's performance had defied the odds despite the loss, as he came in as an over 10 to 1 underdog.[30][31]

Wallin was set to make his return to the ring against former WBA (Regular) heavyweight world champion Lucas Browne (29-2, 25 KOs) on 28 March 2020 at the Park Theater at the Park MGM in Las Vegas. The fight was scheduled for 10 rounds.[32] On 26 February, Wallin was removed from the card due to a foot injury and was replaced by Apti Davtaev.[33] He instead made his return against Travis Kauffman on 15 August 2020. Wallin dominated the fight, and Kauffman retired in the fifth round due to injury.[34]

Personal life

Wallin was born in Sundsvall, Sweden, but has lived in New York City since 2017.[35][36] Wallin's father died of a sudden heart attack shortly before the announcement of Wallin's fight with Tyson Fury. Wallin said his father, an amateur boxer and part-time trainer, motivated him to get into boxing, and hoped to use his father's death as extra motivation to upset the odds and defeat Fury,[37][38] similar to Buster Douglas losing his mother before fighting Mike Tyson.[39] Despite ultimately losing the bout, Wallin's performance was praised. Fury said in his in-ring interview, "Big congratulations to Otto and I just wanna say rest in peace to his father. I know he would be very, very proud of his performance."[40][41]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
22 fights 20 wins 1 loss
By knockout 13 0
By decision 7 1
No contests 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
23 Win 21–1 (1) Travis Kauffman TKO 5 (10), 2:32 15 Aug 2020 Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, US
22 Loss 20–1 (1) Tyson Fury UD 12 14 Sep 2019 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
21 NC 20–0 (1) Nick Kisner NC 1 (10), 3:00 13 Apr 2019 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, US No contest after Kisner was cut by an accidental headbutt
20 Win 20–0 Adrian Granat UD 12 21 Apr 2018 Gärdehov, Sundsvall, Sweden Won vacant EBU European Union and Swedish heavyweight titles
19 Win 19–0 Srdan Govedarica KO 3 (8), 1:01 27 Jan 2018 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, Latvia
18 Win 18–0 Gianluca Mandras TKO 5 (10), 1:18 22 Apr 2017 Sundsvalls Sporthall, Sundsvall, Sweden Won vacant WBA Continental heavyweight title
17 Win 17–0 Raphael Zumbano UD 10 3 Dec 2016 Arena Armeec, Sofia, Bulgaria
16 Win 16–0 Osborne Machimana UD 8 10 Sep 2016 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
15 Win 15–0 Irineu Beato Costa Junior TKO 3 (8), 0:35 23 Apr 2016 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
14 Win 14–0 Samir Kurtagic UD 6 19 Dec 2015 Rosvalla Arena, Nyköping, Sweden
13 Win 13–0 Vladimir Goncharov UD 6 19 Sep 2015 Rosvalla Arena, Nyköping, Sweden
12 Win 12–0 Oleksiy Mazikin KO 2 (8), 2:26 20 Jun 2015 Ballerup Super Arena, Ballerup, Denmark
11 Win 11–0 Beka Lobjanidze KO 4 (8), 0:52 2 May 2015 Frederiksberghallen, Copenhagen, Denmark
10 Win 10–0 David Gegeshidze TKO 2 (8), 2:32 14 Mar 2015 Ballerup Super Arena, Ballerup, Denmark
9 Win 9–0 Ivica Perkovic RTD 4 (8), 3:00 6 Dec 2014 Große EWE Arena, Oldenburg, Germany
8 Win 8–0 Vjekoslav Bajic TKO 2 (8) 29 Nov 2014 Falkoner Center, Frederiksberg, Denmark
7 Win 7–0 Maksym Pedyura TKO 4 (6), 2:50 30 Aug 2014 Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle, Germany
6 Win 6–0 Ladislav Kovarik TKO 4 (4), 1:00 15 Feb 2014 MusikTeatret, Albertslund, Denmark
5 Win 5–0 Ferenc Zsalek PTS 4 25 Jan 2014 Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany
4 Win 4–0 Tomas Mrazek PTS 4 23 Nov 2013 Stechert Arena, Bamberg, Germany
3 Win 3–0 Gabor Farkas TKO 3 (4), 2:53 26 Oct 2013 EWE Arena, Oldenburg, Germany
2 Win 2–0 Valeri Semiskur TKO 2 (4), 0:55 7 Sep 2013 Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark
1 Win 1–0 Roman Cherney TKO 1 (4), 2:57 15 Jun 2013 NRGi Arena, Aarhus, Denmark

References

  1. https://www.boxingscene.com/usyk-vs-huck-otto-wallin-vs-timur-stark-added-card--119693
  2. "A prospect to watch: Otto Wallin". The Ring. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  3. "Wallin tar sikte på OS". st.nu (in Swedish). 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  4. "Tyson Fury vs Otto Wallin? Everything you need to know about the unbeaten Swedish contender". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  5. "A prospect to watch: Otto Wallin". The Ring. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  6. "Tyson Fury vs Otto Wallin? Everything you need to know about the unbeaten Swedish contender". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  7. "Sweden2009j". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  8. "Ruska Tournament 2009". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  9. "Swedish Nationals 2010". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  10. "Haringey Intl 2010". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  11. "Ruska Tournament 2010". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  12. "Duals Sweden-England - Stockholm (SWE) - 2010". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  13. http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Nationalchamps/Sweden2011.pdf
  14. http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Championships/Scandinavian_Championships2011.pdf
  15. http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Tournaments/KaunasTournament_Szocikas2011.pdf
  16. http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Tournaments/Haringey2011.pdf
  17. "Riga Open 2011". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  18. "Duals Sweden-England - Uppsala (SWE) - 2012". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  19. "Boxningåret 2012 enligt Olof Johansson – Fighter Magazine". www.fightermag.se. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  20. "Gee-Bee Tournament - 2012". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  21. "Ottos dröm om OS knockades". st.nu (in Swedish). 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  22. "A prospect to watch: Otto Wallin". The Ring. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  23. "A prospect to watch: Otto Wallin". The Ring. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  24. "Otto Wallin Decisions Adrian Granat, Captures The EU Title". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  25. "Fueled by loss, Otto Wallin plans to shock Tyson Fury". The Ring. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  26. "Fueled by loss, Otto Wallin plans to shock Tyson Fury". The Ring. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  27. "Otto Wallin vs. BJ Flores is Off: Flores Not Medically Cleared". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  28. "Tyson Fury vs Otto Wallin? Everything you need to know about the unbeaten Swedish contender". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  29. Davies, Gareth A. (2019-08-13). "Tyson Fury confirms Setember [sic] bout against Otto Wallin in Las Vegas". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  30. Taylor, Declan; Graham, Chris (2019-09-15). "Tyson Fury defeats Otto Wallin on points in bloody Las Vegas battle". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  31. Graham, Bryan Armen (2019-09-15). "Tyson Fury survives Otto Wallin scare to stay on course for Wilder rematch". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  32. "Nery, Wallin set returns for March card in Vegas". ESPN.com. 2020-02-08. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  33. "Apti Davtaev vs. Lucas Browne on Showtime, Otto Wallin Injured". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2020-02-29.
  34. "Photos: Otto Wallin Dominates Travis Kauffman, TKO in Five". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  35. "Recent Death Of Otto Wallin's Father Fueling Him For Fury Fight". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  36. "Wallin out to shock Fury, put Sweden back on boxing map". Associated Press. 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  37. "Recent Death Of Otto Wallin's Father Fueling Him For Fury Fight". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  38. "Tyson Fury v Otto Wallin: Underdog to draw on loss of father for inspiration". 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  39. "Fueled by loss, Otto Wallin plans to shock Tyson Fury". The Ring. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  40. Taylor, Declan; Graham, Chris (2019-09-15). "Tyson Fury defeats Otto Wallin on points in bloody Las Vegas battle". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  41. "Tyson Fury vs. Otto Wallin fight results: 'Gypsy King' survives massive cut to earn decision win". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
Vacant
Title last held by
Ruslan Chagaev
WBA Continental (Europe)
heavyweight champion

22 April 2017 – 30 June 2017
Vacant
Title next held by
Alexander Povetkin
Vacant
Title last held by
Agit Kabayel
EBU European Union
heavyweight champion

21 April 2018 – present
Incumbent
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