Otto Wallin says his stoppage defeat to Anthony Joshua has altered his opinion on how a fight with Tyson Fury would play out.
Wallin, who was beaten on points by Fury in 2019 after causing a serious cut on ‘The Gypsy King’, suffered a punishing fifth round retirement loss to Joshua in Saudi Arabia last month.
Joshua secured his first victory under trainer Ben Davison, who was in Fury’s corner for his aforementioned victory over the Swede and it remains unclear whether ‘AJ’ will continue under Davison or return to Dallas-based coach, Derrick James who guided him to victories over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius earlier in 2023.
Having originally picked Fury to beat the Watford man, Wallin admits the fight – which could finally take place after the WBC heavyweight champion faces Oleksandr Usyk on February 17 – is now harder for him to call having faced both men.
“It’s hard to say,” the 33-year-old told Boxing News.
“Fury is a very good fighter. [He] can probably pick it up from what he was doing in his last fight [against Ngannou].
“But it’s not going to be an easy fight.
“We’ll see what happens with Joshua now.
“He might be onto something really good with Ben Davison and Ben obviously knows Tyson, so that could be a good fight.
“There’s a lot of variables, but I always said Fury would win that fight, but now [I’ve] just been in with Joshua, I feel a bit different.
“It’s hard to go against Tyson I think, but it’s changed my mind a bit after this fight.”
Defeat to Joshua ended a run of six straight victories for Wallin and was just his second professional loss.
The southpaw insists he has “no excuses” and has praised Joshua’s display against him.
“I really have no excuses.
“He was just better I think.
“He did really well. He used his reach well.
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“He hit me with some really good shots and he was just better I think.
“I think they had a good game plan. I have to watch the fight, but he felt like a very good fighter.
“Obviously it was a much tougher fight than I had with [Tyson] Fury and he did really well.
“Maybe he’s found his home with Ben Davison, I don’t know.”
Wallin was pulled out by long-time trainer Joey Gamache in the corner following the fifth round and the Swede insists he has no complaints with the decision.
“I didn’t disagree with him,” he added.
“Joey told me, ‘I’m going to stop it’ and I didn’t say anything.
“Joey’s been with me for 10 years and he’s seen me in training, he’s seen me in almost all my fights and he’s never pulled me out of anything.
“So I trust Joey. He’s always looking out for me and I feel very happy that I have a trainer that just puts my health first and there’s a life after boxing.
“So I’m really appreciative that he’s looking out for me.”
