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Mike CoppingerESPN
Dillian Whyte, who has made a career out of taking on tough opposition, has another formidable opponent lined up.
“The Body Snatcher” and Otto Wallin have agreed to terms for an Oct. 30 bout at the O2 Arena in London, sources tell ESPN.
Whyte, ESPN’s No. 6 heavyweight, owns victories over Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin and Oscar Rivas. The power-punching big man will look to add to that growing résumé with a fight against Wallin, a far tougher opponent than the other two names who were being considered for the assignment (Chris Arreola and Jermaine Franklin).
The 30-year-old Swedish boxer gave heavyweight champion Tyson Fury all he could handle when they met in September 2019. Wallin produced two gruesome cuts over Fury’s right eye, and it appeared the fight was on the brink of being stopped by the doctor before Fury rallied to pull out a victory on the scorecards.
Besides the cuts, the southpaw brought the fight to Fury; it was an action scrap in which Wallin won nine total rounds despite being a massive underdog. Wallin (22-1, 14 KOs) then proved the performance wasn’t simply a fluke, scoring a stoppage win over Travis Kauffman in his next bout and following that up with a wide points victory over former title challenger Dominic Breazeale.
Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is also no stranger to heavyweight slugfests. His two fights with Derek Chisora were riveting, as was the win over Parker. The 33-year-old British boxer’s two losses both came via knockout, a defeat to Anthony Joshua, who went on to win the heavyweight championship, and an upset loss to Povetkin that he avenged earlier this year.
Whyte has worked with promoter Eddie Hearn on a fight-by-fight basis. This will be his first bout with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing since the promotion signed an exclusive deal with DAZN in the U.K., the network that is expected to carry the fight.
BoxingScene first reported news of the fight.