Undefeated Tyson Fury Survives Bloody Bout To Outpoint Sweden's Wallin
15th September 2019
Fury, who was taken to hospital for repairs, won 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110 on the three judges' scorecards
- Undefeated British heavyweight Tyson Fury shook off a left hook to the temple that left him bloodied and bruised before battling to a unanimous points win over Sweden's Otto Wallin Saturday
- Fury had to dig deep after the bone-rattling third-round punch from heavy underdog Wallin sliced open a deep gash over his right eye in Las Vegas.
- The shot left Fury half-blind for the remainder of the 12-round non-title bout as blood flowed freely down the right side of his face
LOS ANGELES, United
States- Undefeated British heavyweight Tyson Fury shook off a left
hook to the temple that left him bloodied and bruised before battling to a
unanimous points win over Sweden's Otto Wallin Saturday.
Fury had to dig deep after the bone-rattling third-round
punch from heavy underdog Wallin sliced open a deep gash over his right eye in
Las Vegas.
The shot left Fury half-blind for the remainder of the
12-round non-title bout as blood flowed freely down the right side of his
face.
But the self-styled "Gypsy King" powered back in a
battle of attrition and eventually seized control in the ninth round.
"I got caught early on which changed the fight
completely," Fury said. "For the majority of fight I couldn't
see."
Fury, who was taken to hospital for repairs, won 116-112,
117-111 and 118-110 on the three judges' scorecards.
Because the cut was from a punch, and not an accidental
clash of heads, Wallin would have won by TKO had the injury caused officials to
stop the contest.
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Fury was hoping for a dominant performance against the
unheralded Swede to stoke excitement for his lucrative money-spinning rematch
with WBC champion Deontay Wilder which he claims is scheduled for
February.
- 'Deontay I want you next, bum' -
Fury climbed off the canvas after a 12th round knockdown by
Wilder in December only for judges to score a draw in a pulsating title fight
that many observers thought the Englishman had won.
He called out Wilder after the verdict over Wallin was
announced saying, "Deontay I want you next, bum."
Before Saturday's fight the 31-year-old Fury insisted he
wasn't looking past the 30/1 underdog Wallin, who entered the ring with a
perfect 20-0 record.
An over-the-top, five-minute ring walk sporting a sombrero
and accompanied by a Mariachi band had some wondering if Fury was more
concerned with boosting his Mexican fan base on their independence day than
beating Wallin.
But as he had against Wilder in December, the unbeaten 6ft
9in Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) showed he can deal with adversity in the ring.
"It is all heart and determination," he said.
"If I can keep going then I will keep going."
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The 28-year-old southpaw Wallin angered Fury at the end of
the sixth round by reaching over the referee with his glove to try and rip open
the cut even more.
The fight had been briefly halted in the middle of that
round so the ring doctor could inspect Fury's cut. "I can see," Fury
insisted when asked if the blood was affecting him.
By the final round both boxers were out of gas. Wallin
connected with a final flurry and for a few fleeting moments it looked like the
heavyweight division might have its second huge upset of a fancied British
fighter in three months.
In June, Mexico's Andy Ruiz knocked out the previously
unbeaten Englishman Anthony Joshua in the seventh round in New York to win
three of the four major heavyweight belts in one of the sport's biggest shocks.