50 Stitches! Bloody Tyson Fury Decisions Wallin in 12, Injury Will Delay Wilder Rematch
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Las Vegas, NV (September 16th, 2019)– Tyson Fury needed 50 stitches from a plastic surgeon to seal the deal at the University of Southern Nevada Medical center after this ‘tune-up’ bout. Otto Wallin was far superior in boxing ability over 12 rough tough rounds to Tyson Fury’s previous opponent, the limited Tom Schwarz who was stopped in less than two rounds.
A bloody Tyson Fury, bleeding profusely from a large gash on his right eyebrow and a smaller cut on his right eyelid, hung on to win a well-deserved 12 round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Swedish southpaw heavyweight contender Otto Wallin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, om Saturday evening, September 14, 2019. The blood trickled sideways, and not into Fury’s right eye, but it clearly bothered him to the extent he considered himself fighting from the third round on with only the use of his left eye to guide his way to victory.
Fury, the lineal heavyweight champion, 29-0-1 with 20 knockouts, Wilmslow, United Kingdom, got the needed win and difficult workout over promoter Dmitriy Salita’s fighter Wallin, 20-1 with 13 knockouts, Sundsvall, Sweden. Fury had looked past Wallin, and although he outpunched and outworked Wallin, Fury clearly underestimated how difficult a bout with Wallin would be. The price, Fury’s badly cut right eye, means a possible 2020 rematch with Deontay Wilder is out of the question until Fury’s right eye cuts are fully healed. According to the rematch contract signed by Wilder to fight Cuban Luis Ortiz again, that bout is now scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand on November 23, 2019.
Fury was a 25 to 1 favorite in the MGM Grand sports book, but those odds clearly were way offline. More applicable would have been 5:1, 4:1 or even 3:1 or 2:1. The presence of the bloody cut raised major questions. If an unknown could do this sort of damage to the 6’9” Tyson Fury, what would happen in Andy Ruiz Jr. got ahold of him? According to yesterday’s Andy Ruiz Tweet, “After that (bloody and dismal disappointing) performance, there’s no way he (Tyson Fury will) beats me with a hand-tied behind his back.” What Ruiz is really saying is Fury appeared vulnerable and beatable. Tyson appeared to be tiring down the stretch, though Wallin appeared spent going into the 12th and final round. Wilder dropped Fury twice, and Ruiz dropped Joshua numerous times. Ruiz sees Fury as a likely possible future target in 2020. For all we know, if Wilder does not fight Fury again, Ruiz could get Fury is he defeats Anthony Joshua in the upcoming rematch.
Fury landed 179 of 651 total punches, to Wallin’s 127 of 334 punched attempted according to CompuBox. Fury kept Wallin on the defensive, wit 127 power shots landed to Wallin’s 84. Fury landed 52 jabs to Wallin’s 43 jabs. Overall, though, Wallin had absolutely nothing to lose by putting his soul on the table. Wallin, at 6’5” the shorter man, had every reason to hold and wrestle on the inside. Wallin appeared to win the first and fifth rounds, and landed a good left hand late in the final round. It was Wallin’s accurate punches which landed in the third round which triggered fury’s eye cut and bloody crisis. If Fury had the bout stopped on cuts from a legitimate punch, he would have lost by TKO. As it was, Wallin had to remain on the defensive because Fury had too many punches coming in. The moral of the story is, when you are dealing with hungry heavyweights, there is no free ride.
Result: Tyson Fury Win 12 Otto Wallin, Heavyweights
Scoring: 118-110, 117-111, 116-112 for Tyson Fury.
Referee: Tony Weeks
Break in the action in round six for ringside physician to inspect Tyson fury’s right eye cut
Referee warned Wallin for rubbing the palm of his glove on Fury’s face in the sixth round
Undercard Results at T-Mobile Arena
Emanuel Navarette TKO 4 Juan Miguel Elorde
Mexico’s Navarette retains WBO World Super Bantamweight title
Filipino Elorde is the grandson of Hall of Fame World Featherweight and Super Featherweight champion Flash Elorde. Some people have no respect for famous names.
Jose Zepeda Win 10 Jose Pedraza, Super Lightweights
California’s 31-2 Zepeda wins vacant WBC USNBC Super Lightweight title
Carlos Cuadras Win Majority Decision 10 Jose Maria Cardenas, Super Flyweights
Mexico’s Cuadras, former WBC World Super Flyweight champ, in successful comeback
Isaac Lowe Win 8 Ruben Garcia Hernandez, Featherweights
19-0-3 British featherweight prospect Lowe decisions Mexico’s 25-5-2 Hernandez
Vyacheslav Shabranskyy Win Disqualification 8 Felix Valera, Light Heavyweights (2:01)
Ukrainian Shabrakskyy upsets former WBA World Light Heavyweight champ Valera. Referee Adelaide Byrd disqualified Dominican Valera after several low blows.
Iskander Kharsan Win Referee’s Technical Decision 5 Isidro Ochoa, Super Bantamweights (3:00)
Nevada’s 7-0 Kazakhstan prospect Kharsan decisions 7-0 California prospect Ochoa.
Gabriel Flores Jr. Win 6 Miguel Angel Perez Aispuro, Lightweights
15-0 prospect Flores was the 2016 United States National Junior (Under 17) Champion
Guido Vianello Win Referee’s Technical Decision 3 Cassius Anderson, Heavyweights (3:00)
5-0 Rome heavyweight prospect Vianello represented Italy in 2016 Olympic Games in Rio
Tyson Fury Defeats Otto Wallin in a Rough Fight
Las Vegas, NV (September 15th, 2019) — Perhaps on paper the unknown and untested Otto Wallin looked like a second consecutive soft touch for lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, but it turned out nothing could have been further from the truth.
Fury had to overcome a tremendously spirited effort from Wallin and two horrendous cuts over his right eye in a memorable rumble before 8,249 in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Fury won 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112, but it was a dogfight all the way with palpable drama because it seemed as though the fight could have been stopped at any time due to the severity of the cuts. ESPN also scored the fight 116-112 for Fury.
“It was a good performance. I got a good 12 rounds in,” Fury said. “It was a great fight. I got cut [in the third round] on the eyelid and [it] changed the fight completely. I couldn’t see out of the eye, and there was a lot of [head] clashes. I am the ‘Gypsy Warrior,’ and this is Mexican Independence Day! Viva Mexico!”
Fury retained the lineal title for the fifth time and did his part to fight his way into a rematch with titlist Deontay Wilder, but it was not supposed to be nearly this tough against Wallin, a 30-to-1 underdog looking to pull an upset that would have been even bigger than the one Andy Ruiz Jr. engineered on June 1 when he knocked out Anthony Joshua to take his three title belts.
In June, Fury kicked off his nine-figure Top Rank/ESPN contract by blowing away then-undefeated, unknown and untested German Tom Schwarz in the second round in Fury’s Las Vegas debut. The “Gypsy King” was expected to do the same against an equally unknown, undefeated and untested Wallin, but instead Fury got perhaps the toughest fight of his career.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum praised Fury’s fortitude.
“Once the referee ruled the cut was from a blow, it means if the fight was stopped he would have lost,” Arum said. “He fought back with the blood, a lot of blood. I thought it was a great performance and a terrific fight. We knew the Swede wasn’t a quitter. He was a hell of a fighter. And Fury is a real warrior.
Wallin elevated his career despite the loss and was humble in defeat.
“I did everything I could. I tried my best, and Tyson is a great champion,” Wallin said. “[The way I fought] tells me that no one can question my heart or question that I am a good fighter.”
Fury gave Wallin credit for a performance that pushed him to the brink, and even saluted Wallin’s father, Carl, who died in May.
“Congrats to Otto — and God bless his father and let him rest in peace,” Fury said. “He would be very proud of Otto’s performance. The Viking Warrior!”
Wallin got Fury’s attention with a left hand midway through the first round and forced him back. He did not seem undone by the moment. Instead, he was poised and moving forward, although it was hard for him to get inside Fury’s long jab.
Fury, boxing for the fifth time in just 15 months following a 31-month layoff dealing with myriad personal problems, turned to a southpaw stance in the second round. When he returned to a right-handed stance, he began to land punches, including a right hand that forced Wallin back.
Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) suffered a cut over his right eye late in the third round that referee Tony Weeks ruled was from a punch.
Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs), a 6-foot-5½ southpaw, had a good fourth round against a seemingly agitated Fury, who was talking to him as blood streamed down the side of his face from what had become two cuts. Fury was clearly unnerved by the cuts, as he continually dabbed his eye in the fifth round, during which Wallin nailed him with a right hand that shook Fury, and then he followed up with a left.
Wallin also tried to target Fury’s wound.
“I tried to hit it even more,” he said. “I know it was a punch that did it. I was happy that he was cut, but I wish I could have put more pressure on it.”
Weeks called timeout late in the fifth round to have the ringside doctor examine Fury’s worsening cuts. When the fight resumed there was urgency from Fury, who tried to go for a knockout and was met by a Wallin who was ready to brawl.
The 6-foot-9 Fury seemed to have lost any semblance of a game plan in the seventh round. Instead, he just marched to Wallin, 28, of Sweden, looking to get him out of there because of the urgency over the cuts. He sent Wallin into the ropes with a long right hand and then another, but Wallin fired back and tied him up.
“It is all heart and determination,” Fury said of getting through so many tough rounds. “If I can keep going, I will keep going. He’s a tough guy. I hit him with some chin shots and some body shots, and he kept coming. He [was] undefeated, but tonight I was the man.”
Fury, 31, of England, nailed Wallin with a right uppercut that forced him to the ropes in the eighth round. Blood continued to stream down Fury’s face, turning the white part of his trunks pink.
By the end of the ninth round, Wallin’s left eye was swollen, and black and blue. Fury opened the 10th round with a sustained flurry that hurt Wallin repeatedly and had him sagging along the ropes. He continued to unload, landing numerous punches, especially clean right hands, that were breaking down Wallin, yet Wallin somehow made it to the end of the round.
Fury continued to pound Wallin in the 11th round, finding time to dab at the massive amount of blood coming from his cuts between landing punches to the head and body.
Wallin landed a clean left hand to open the 12th round and put a few punches together that seemed to hurt Fury, who grabbed onto him. Fury then backed up to stay away from the left hand and also wiped blood from his eye as they rumbled to the final bell of an outstanding fight.
According to CompuBox statistics, Fury landed 179 of 651 punches (28%), and Wallin landed 127 of 334 (38%). Wallin landed more punches against Fury than any opponent in 15 of his fights tracked by CompuBox.
The fight was critical for Fury because he already has signed for the rematch with Wilder, which is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 22 in Las Vegas. Wilder still has to do his part, which is make it through a rematch with Luis “King Kong” Ortiz. That fight has not been officially announced but is ticketed for Nov. 23, also in Las Vegas.
Fury, who was guaranteed $12.5 million to Wallin’s guarantee of more than $1 million, clearly took his training for the fight seriously. He came in at 254.4 pounds, nine pounds lighter than he was against Schwarz and the lightest he has been since he was 247 when he outpointed Wladimir Klitschko in a massive upset to become lineal champion and also win three major sanctioning body belts in 2015.
With Wallin out of the way, however, Fury was happy to talk about it, seemingly almost relieved.
“Deontay Wilder, I want you next, bum! It is all preparation,” Fury said. “I had a long time out of the ring, [but] next is the big boy, the big ‘Bronze Bomber’ on Feb. 22.”
Zepeda scores big win against Pedraza
Junior welterweight contender Jose Zepeda scored the biggest win of his career, a unanimous decision against former lightweight and junior lightweight world titlist Jose “Sniper” Pedraza, who was moving up to 140 pounds.
Zepeda, a southpaw, outworked and outfought Pedraza in an entertaining fight and won 97-93 on all three scorecards.
“It’s probably one of the best days of my life. It’s Mexican Independence Day. I was giving everything for Mexico,” Zepeda said. “I guess persistence (was the key to victory). The people here were giving me excitement to go get him, to go after this guy. We knew that he was a hell of a boxer.”
Both of Zepeda’s losses came in world title bouts, a second-round stoppage due to a shoulder injury for a vacant lightweight belt to Terry Flanagan in 2015 and a disputed majority decision to Jose Ramirez for a junior welterweight title in February. But with a strong performance against Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs), 30, of Puerto Rico, Zepeda has put himself back in the title hunt and called for a rematch with Ramirez.
“There were talks that maybe the winner of this fight would go after Ramirez,” Zepeda said. “For me, the rematch, I would like that. It was a very close fight. A lot of people thought I won, a lot of people thought he won. I would love a rematch. I think the people would love it, too.”
It took a couple of rounds for the fight to settle into a rhythm, with Pedraza coming forward and Zepeda (31-2, 25 KOs), 30, of La Puente, California, looking to counter and relying heavily on his jab.
Zepeda’s rapid-fire left hands landed often in the fifth round, but his jab also proved difficult for Pedraza to handle. In the sixth round, Pedraza began to go more to the body and landed a few shots that were audible at ringside, but Zepeda took the shots well and continued to fire jabs down the middle as Pedraza’s face began to show the wear from the shots.
Pedraza, his right eye closing and perhaps believing he was down, came out strong in the eighth round and landed a hard left hand in the opening seconds and then began to stick his jab in Zepeda’s face over and over, forcing him to back up.
According to CompuBox statistics, Zepeda landed 167 of 470 punches (36 percent) and Pedraza connected with 141 of 439 blows (32 percent).
Pedraza remained aggressive in the 10th round and cut Zepeda over his left eye in the best action round of the fight, one that closed with them in a toe-to-toe exchange.
Pedraza dropped to 1-2 in his past three fights, having lost his lightweight belt by decision to Vasiliy Lomachenko in a unification fight in December before bouncing back with a ninth-round knockout of Antonio Lozada in May, before he elected to move up to junior welterweight.
“It was a very good fight. He looked very well, and I just couldn’t do any of the things I wanted to do,” Pedraza said. “Nothing came out the way I wanted. The instruction from my corner was to throw more punches, but nothing was going my way.
“This was my debut at 140. I felt good. I will meet with my team to evaluate if we stay at 140, or if we move down in weight.”
Cuadras edges Cardenas
Former junior bantamweight world titlist Carlos Cuadras (39-3-1, 27 KOs), 31, of Mexico, eked out a majority decision victory over countryman Jose Maria Cardenas (17-5, 14 KOs), 22, in a rough, tough battle in which both fighters were rocked.
Cuadras won his third fight in a row since suffering back-to-back decision losses to McJoe Arroyo and Juan Francisco Estrada, but it wasn’t easy against his unheralded opponent. In the end, Cuadras got the nod 96-94 on two scorecards, while one judge had it 95-95.
“I did what I had to do to get the win. I don’t care what he says,” Cuadras said. “I connected the most powerful and definitive shots. I won the fight.”
Cardenas was upset by the decision.
“This was a total robbery. I clearly won the fight,” he said. “I want an immediate rematch.”
There was lots of back-and-forth action, but it was the quicker Cuadras — darting in and out and landing quick combinations — who had the edge. Cuadras suffered a nasty-looking swelling around his left eye from the fifth round on, and Cardenas’ punches appeared heavier as he backed up Cuadras several times with hard shots, but Cardenas never seemed to have any urgency.
Foster wins brutal bout vs. Reid in majority draw
Brad Foster held on to the British and Commonwealth junior featherweight titles after a brutal bout with Lucien Reid ended in a majority points draw on Saturday.
Two judges scored it 114-114, while the third saw it 116-112 to Reid, who finished the stronger in front of his home fans at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, in east London.
Reid looked fresher in the later rounds, but it was not enough to convince the judges, and Foster retained the titles. A rematch seems likely.
Foster (11-0-2, 4 KOs), 21, from Lichfield, won the British crown by outpointing Josh Wale in March, and then stopped Ashley Lane in a first defense two months later. After this close and competitive fight, he deserves a rest, and both boxers sustained cuts, so a sequel is likely to be next year if it happens.
Foster had to contend with a bad cut opening up by his left eye in the second round, caused by an accidental clash of heads. The former kickboxer’s corner did a great job on stemming the flow of blood to ensure it did not bother him.
Reid (8-0-2, 4 KOs), 25, from West Ham in east London, was the more educated boxer, but Foster was a quick mover around the ring and always dangerous with the left hook.
The rounds were close and Reid finished the fifth round strong, catching Foster with a flurry of punches. Reid also finished the fifth cut by his left eye after an accidental clash of heads, but it did not affect his work and in the eighth he landed a thudding right hand followed by a right uppercut.
But Foster rallied in the ninth and did some great work on the inside at close range, and landed a pair of hooks flush. Reid took it well, and resisted being drawn into a brawl.
Reid had never been 12 rounds before but the distance was no problem for him and he finished the fight with two impressive rounds. Reid nailed Foster with two right hands in the last round, but it was not enough to earn him the decision.
Also on the ESPN+ bill, Sunny Edwards highlighted his potential to emulate the success of his elder brother, WBC world flyweight champion Charlie, with a unanimous, 10-round points win over Rosendo Hugo Guarneros.
Edwards (13-0, 4 KOs), 23 and three years younger than Charlie, had moved down a division for this fight and made an impressive flyweight debut, as he ran out a 99-91, 99-91 and 100-90 winner.
Guarneros (16-3-2, 8 KOs), from Mexico City, 28, had never fought outside of his native Mexico and had won only one of his previous three fights.
Edwards was razor sharp in the second, switching between stances, before staggering Guarneros with a left in the third.
It was one-way traffic throughout, as Sunny showed he has arguably a better skill set than his sibling Charlie.
In the seventh, as Guarneros looked for the big shot, Edwards boxed expertly behind a southpaw jab.
“In the seventh round I threw my best shot of the fight,” Edwards said, and added he eased off after that.
Edwards also landed a sweet uppercut in the 10th, and the outcome was a formality.
Lowe outpoints Garcia Hernandez
Junior lightweight Isaac Lowe, right, outpointed Ruben Garcia Hernandez for a unanimous decision victory. Mikey Williams/Top Rank
British featherweight Isaac Lowe (18-0-3, 6 KOs), 25, a friend of Fury’s with whom he shared trainer Ben Davison, scored an entertaining unanimous decision victory against Ruben Garcia Hernandez (25-5-2, 11 KOs), 26, of Mexico, in a hard-fought fight in which both had good moments. Lowe won by scores of 78-74, 77-75 and 77-75.
Lowe, who also won on the undercard of Fury’s fight in June against Tom Schwarz, had the biggest moment of the fight when he rocked Hernandez with a right hand in the fifth round.
Flores dominates Perez Aispuro
Gabriel Flores Jr., right, defeated Miguel Angel Perez Aispuro in their lightweight fight. Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Lightweight prospect Gabriel Flores Jr. (15-0, 6 KOs), 19, of Stockton, California, put in a workmanlike performance in a shutout victory over Miguel Angel Perez Aispuro (12-9-2, 8 KOs), 29, of Mexico. Flores landed many combinations and won easily, 60-54, on all three scorecards.
“It’s always a thrill to fight here in Las Vegas,” Flores said. “This has been a great year for me as I continue to develop as a fighter. I’ll be back soon.”
Kharsan stops Ochoa
Featherweight Iskander Kharsan, right, stayed unbeaten with a TKO victory over Isidro Ochoa. Junior featherweight Iskander Kharsan (7-0, 5 KOs), 22, of Kazakhstan, dropped Isidro Ochoa (7-1, 3 KOs), 22, a southpaw from Fresno, California, with a short right hand in the fifth round. Ochoa’s corner stopped the bout in the corner after the round. It was another dominating performance for Khar
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