Tyson Fury survived a savage cut to beat Otto Wallin… But now his fight with Deontay Wilder has been thrown into doubt…
Tyson Fury is definitely one of the two best heavyweights on the planet right now, but even he is vulnerable to flesh wounds. ‘The Gypsy King’ went through the wringer on the way to beating Otto Wallin in Las Vegas. The Swede was seen as a walkover, but he turned out to much tougher than expected.
Fury’s star rose to new heights after his draw with Deontay Wilder last year. After outboxing Wilder for most of the fight he survived the craziest knockdown, rising like Lazarus from the canvas. The pair have agreed on a deal in principle to fight a rematch, but only if certain things go their way first.
Wallin was definitely out to spoil the part. The Swedish fighter went out to cause as much damage as he could and it remains to be seen what long-term impact it will have on Fury’s destiny.
Underdog @OttoWallin opens a cut on lineal champ @Tyson_Fury
▶️ https://t.co/h528zYw0NR pic.twitter.com/LYEcTM3lZy
— ESPN (@espn) September 15, 2019
Brutal
While Fury definitely outboxed Wallin, deservedly winning a tough decision, the Swede definitely tried to bring the fight to the Brit. He landed with some hard body shots early, with Fury looking uncharacteristically sluggish. Then in the third round, he opened up a nasty cut above Fury’s right eye.
This was bad and the referee might have stopped it if it were a less famous fighter. As it were, Fury was able to rally and grind out the decision – even if he did have to survive a tough final round. Wallin definitely increased his status despite losing for the first time.
Cheap Trick
Fury’s trainer Ben Davison revealed that his fighter was furious when Wallin landed a cheap shot in the sixth round. He deliberately pushed his glove into the Brit’s face when they were being separated by the referee, in an attempt to open the cut again. It was cheap effort and in the end, it didn’t pay off for him. The trainer said:
He [Fury] was telling him [the doctor] that Otto was smashing his eye to open it and take off the Vaseline. ‘He p***ed him off because he told him like, “hey, he’s taking off my Vaseline”. But it’s part of the game, it comes with the territory.”
The referee after Tyson Fury last night match pic.twitter.com/UbOvlCdpcf
— Your Landlord 🇬🇧🇳🇬 (@OgaLandlord_) September 15, 2019
Very Concerned
Fury’s cutman Jorge Capetillo explained that it was definitely a concern for ‘The Gypsy King’s’ Team. If the doctor stopped the fight, Fury would have lost so much more than just one fight. The lineal heavyweight championship would be gone and the chance of a massive payday against Deontay Wilder would dissipate. He said:
‘Of course, it was a concern. You try to do your best. I was trying to keep it clean, to apply the adrenaline, to seal with the Vaseline. ‘Sometimes I was having to put a lot of Vaseline because I knew that they could stop it. As soon as they see the blood falling off to the eye and he started losing the vision, I know it can be a problem. But thank God we stopped it.’
The big question now is whether or not it will heal in time for Fury’s eagerly anticipated match-up with Wilder. That fight is likely to be in February. However, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ must get past Luis Ortiz first. The Cuban fighter is no walk in the park and this is a very dangerous rematch for Wilder. 2019 has been a crazy year for boxing so far. Will there be another shock?
