On Sept. 14, 2019, Otto Wallin — an undefeated, if little-known heavyweight from Sweden — was delivered to the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas as a kind of human sacrifice, intended to fall quietly and presumably early at the feet of Tyson Fury. Instead, he punched open a huge gash above Fury’s right eye early in the fight, and lost a unanimous decision that seemed closer than the scorecards indicated. It was a gruesome night, but also, in a way that’s peculiar to boxing, an unexpectedly great one. «Congrats to Otto,» Fury conceded after the fight. «The Viking Warrior!»
Wallin, now 28-3, remains a world-class heavyweight, still toiling for that last best shot. He has been in the game for two full decades, turning pro in 2013, and in all the years since, he has been stopped by only one man. That would be Anthony Joshua, the two-time unified heavyweight champion, former Olympic gold medalist and among the division’s hardest punchers. «I’ve never been hit like that,» said Wallin, whose corner had the good sense to throw in the towel in December 2023 and get him to a hospital, where doctors surgically repaired the nose that Joshua broke. «Fury put a lot of weight behind his punches, but Joshua’s shots were sharp, very hard and fast. Jake Paul can get hurt.»
only experience above 200 pounds came against 58-year-old Mike Tyson, takes on that same Joshua, in a bout sanctioned by those diligent public servants at the Florida State Athletic Commission.
When Wallin tells me «it’s a dangerous fight,» he’s not talking about a busted nose, either. «I mean, Jake Paul can actually get hurt,» he said.
Then again, that’s the point. The prospect of lasting damage is the sell here. Oleksandr Usyk, the world’s greatest heavyweight who twice survived Joshua, might as well have been writing promo copy when he said, «If Anthony Joshua wants, he can kill this guy … I will pray for Jake Paul.»
The year after Wallin lost to Fury, Paul debuted against somebody named AnEsonGib. Paul is now 12-1 and has become a promotional force. As I’ve said before, Paul has been good for boxing. But this fight is not. It’s not sport. It’s stunt, a descendant of Evel Knievel’s ill-fated attempt to jump Snake River Canyon. And it’s a disgrace that the FSAC has sanctioned it with the same lack of transparency that we have come to expect from boxing’s sanctioning bodies.
I’m not a prude here. Nor a hater. I don’t expect anyone to get seriously hurt, especially not when the promoter and fighter are one and the same. My bet’s on a muffled affair in the name of commerce. But there’s still that terrible chance, and now (thank you, Florida), a terrible precedent. What happens the next time a promoter wants to match a two-time unified heavyweight champion with a YouTuber-turned-boxer? What’s even more dangerous, this fight becomes a reasonable argument behind every proposed mismatch.
knocked out in 109 seconds.
Following the bout, Florida suspended Holyfield’s license for 30 days on medical grounds.
