Tyson Fury overcame a significant cut over his right eye and went on to defeat Otto Wallin by unanimous decision to retain his lineal heavyweight crown Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The judges scored the bout 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110 for Fury.
The fight, which was the main event of an ESPN+ card, marked the fifth defense of Fury’s lineal title, which he claimed with his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
Wallin opened up a big gash over Fury’s eye when he landed a clean left hook in the third round. The cut was examined by a ring doctor in Round 6, causing Fury to pick up the pace and fight with greater urgency.
Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) fought for the fifth time in only 15 months Saturday night and was coming off a second-round knockout victory over then-undefeated German Tom Schwarz on June 15.
Next up for Fury (28-0-1, 20 KOs) could be a rematch with WBC heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder, with whom he fought to a disputed draw on Dec. 1. Fury has said that a win over Wallin would set up a Feb. 22 rematch with Wilder, and a source at Top Rank confirmed to ESPN last month that is the working date for a potential fight.
Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs) entered Saturday’s fight as a massive +1100 underdog, the same odds Andy Ruiz Jr. took into his June 1 title bout against Anthony Joshua, which Ruiz won by TKO.
Wallin earned the title shot against Fury when others, such as former world titlist Charles Martin, former secondary titlist Alexander Povetkin and former world title challenger Johann Duhaupas, turned down seven-figure offers.
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