It certainly feels like Tyson Fury is trying to protect his rematch with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder by any means necessary.
The lineal heavyweight champion will face relatively unknown Otto Wallin at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 14, BoxingScene.com reported Friday. This marks the second virtually unknown opponent for Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs) this year, as he already disposed of German boxer Tom Schwarz by second-round TKO in Las Vegas back in June.
If you're wondering who Wallin is and what he has done in the ring, the 6-5 boxer from Sundsvall, Sweden, has amassed a 20-0 record, including 13 KOs. All of the 28-year-old's fights have taken place in Europe, with the exception of his last bout — an April clash against Nick Kisner that ended in a no-contest due to an accidental headbutt at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Fury, 30, looked ultra sharp in precisely picking his shots and putting on an overall boxing clinic against Schwarz in June, before calling out Wilder.
"He's going to give me that green (WBC) belt!" Fury said in the ring following that victory.
That was before he broke out with an impromptu version of Aerosmith's classic "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," which he sang to his wife in the ring.
The Sept. 14 bout against Wallin will clearly be the biggest fight of the Swedish boxer's life in what is expected to be yet another tune-up bout for the charismatic British heavyweight.
As long as Wilder defeats Luis Ortiz in a rematch of his own this fall and Fury gets past Wallin, the two are expected to meet in 2020, although a date hasn't been finalized yet.