Over the years, the heavyweight division has seen the same characters cycle through as contenders. Someone who has attempted to break the wheel and continues to do so is Otto Wallin.
Wallin lost to Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia on December 23. "When I first started boxing, professional boxing was forbidden in Sweden," he said beforehand.
"Fighting my way here from a small village and now fighting on this big card against Anthony Joshua, it’s just amazing, and it’s been quite a journey. I feel I deserve it, and I’m ready,” Wallin told The Telegraph.
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The Sporting News looks into the career of Wallin, a fighter who became a top heavyweight contender after almost shocking the boxing world.
Who is Otto Wallin?
Hailing from Sundsvall, Sweden, Wallin is a Swedish National Championships silver and bronze medalist and a four-time amateur gold medalist. After a career in the unpaid ranks that featured two defeats to Joshua, he turned pro in 2013 at 22 and has a 26-1 record with 14 wins via knockout.
Wallin got his big break in 2019 by fighting WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. A massive underdog, Wallin almost pulled off the upset after opening up a huge cut over Fury's right eye with a punch. However, "The Gypsy King" won via a unanimous decision score in a contest deemed a close fight early on.
“It was a great experience. There were a lot of things I did well in that fight, but some things I know I can do better, and I have been worked on,” Wallin told TNT Sports. “I am more experienced now and more seasoned. In that fight, I blew a bit too much steam in the first six rounds and couldn’t keep it up. That’s something I have been working on, and I feel much more ready now.
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"That was my breakout fight. It was a close fight, unfortunately I lost. It could have been stopped, as he had two pretty bad cuts. If you ask me, I would have liked it to be stopped. But he is a good fighter and showed a lot of heart. I respect him, but I would love to win this fight and fight Fury again.”
Since that bout, Wallin has since won six straight. He was supposed to fight then-interim WBC heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte in 2021, but Whyte withdrew due to injury.
“All In” last fought in September, beating former unified cruiserweight world champion Murat Gassiev via split decision.