Otto Wallin vs. Travis Kauffman - August 15, 2020

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wallin-Kauffman: Showtime To Televise Heavyweight Fight August 15

Otto Wallin’s lengthy wait to fight for the first time since he tested Tyson Fury should finally end August 15.

Boxing Scene. has learned that Wallin and Travis Kauffman have agreed to meet in a 10-round heavyweight fight that night. Showtime is expected to televise Wallin-Kauffman as part of a three-bout broadcast from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, but it will not be the main event.

The Wallin-Kauffman fight will be part of a show two weeks after Showtime returns August 1 with its first boxing broadcast since March 13. Official announcements of the August 1 and August 15 broadcasts could come as soon as next week.

Fans will not be allowed to attend the August 1 or August 15 cards due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Sweden’s Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC) was supposed to square off against Australia’s Lucas Browne (29-2, 25 KOs) on March 28 at Park MGM’s Park Theater in Las Vegas. Wallin withdrew from that 10-rounder, which Showtime was scheduled to televise, after a suffering a fractured left foot late in February.

The 6-feet-5, 235-pound Wallin also informed BS.com late in March that he contracted COVID-19, but the 29-year-old contender has fully recovered. Kauffman also announced on social media in March that he, too, had tested positive for COVID-19.

The 34-year-old Kauffman (32-3, 23 KOs, 1 NC) hasn’t fought since Cuban southpaw Luis Ortiz (31-2, 26 KOs, 2 NC) knocked him out in the 10th round of their scheduled 10-round bout in December 2018 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kauffman, of Reading, Pennsylvania, underwent shoulder surgery following his loss to Ortiz, which kept Kauffman out of the ring in 2019.

Wallin, meanwhile, hasn’t boxed since he fought Fury on September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 6-feet-5 southpaw opened a nasty gash over Fury’s right eye in the second round and pushed the since-crowned WBC champion more than expected in the biggest fight of Wallin’s career. England’s Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) still won a 12-round unanimous decision by scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wallin is lucky..

I believe, looking back, he received way more hype than he should have gotten.

Fury got cut early, had to change his whole game plan and Wallin started fighting dirty, which some people found cool maybe, he was never gonna win that fight, even with Fury being cut, unless the ref stopped it..

Had Fury not been cut early, there is a chance it could have been 120-108 or 119-109 type scorecards? Who's to know..

But as for now, due to the way it played out, Wallin and his promoter are pushing for a Fury rematch in the future.

He was linked to fighting Lucas Browne earlier ths year, before Covid messed up everyones plans.

Anyway, this should be a fairly straight forward win for Wallin. Kauffman hopefully will test him a little..

[DrDuke]

Kauffman is enough tough to survive. Wallin will comfortably score a decision win.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kauffman is enough tough to survive. Wallin will comfortably score a decision win.

The way I see it too.

[margaret thatcher]

Wallin is lucky..

I believe, looking back, he received way more hype than he should have gotten.

Fury got cut early, had to change his whole game plan and Wallin started fighting dirty, which some people found cool maybe, he was never gonna win that fight, even with Fury being cut, unless the ref stopped it..

Had Fury not been cut early, there is a chance it could have been 120-108 or 119-109 type scorecards? Who's to know..

But as for now, due to the way it played out, Wallin and his promoter are pushing for a Fury rematch in the future.

He was linked to fighting Lucas Browne earlier ths year, before Covid messed up everyones plans.

Anyway, this should be a fairly straight forward win for Wallin. Kauffman hopefully will test him a little..

I know dudes get all sensitive when luck is mentioned.....but let's just say I think the Fury fight will always be the peak for him. He has never really looked too good in his other fights

[Ruthless-RKO]

Otto Wallin: I Feel Good About This Matchup With Kauffman

The storyline you will hear throughout the week is how a clash between Otto Wallin and Travis Kauffman pits two heavyweights who’ve both recovered from COVID-19.

There is plenty more about the fight that appeals to at least one side of the equation.

“I feel good about this matchup,” Wallin told Boxing Scene of his upcoming fight this weekend at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut (Saturday, Showtime, 9:00pm ET). “This is a fight we’ve wanted for a while. He’s a tough guy and always in fun fights.

“This is a good fight for me to show the world I am ready for anyone in the heavyweight division.”

The bout is Wallin’s first since his well-publicized 12-round clash with Tyson Fury last September in Las Vegas. Sweden’s Wallin (20-1, 13KOs) boxed well early, opening a huge cut over Fury’s eye and was seemingly one punch away from busting open the wound to the point of forcing the stoppage. The moment slipped away as Wallin ultimately suffered the first defeat of his career.

Plans for a redemptive 2020 campaign were severely put to the test. Wallin was due to face Australia’s Lucas Browne on a March 28 Showtime tripleheader from Park MGM in Las Vegas but had to withdraw after suffering a fractured left foot.

It proved moot as the card as a whole was canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic—a circumstance with which Wallin is all too familiar. As first reported by BS.com senior writer Keith Idec earlier this year, Wallin self-quarantined beginning March 14 after becoming convinced that he had contracted the infectious disease.

A full recovery came, at which point Wallin did his best to train at any available facility at a time when gyms were shut down in New York, where the 29-year old Swedish heavyweight has been since last October. Since then, he has done everything in his power to be as ready as possible for this weekend.

“I’ve been out since last September with Fury. It’s been almost a year and a crazy year at that,” notes Wallin. “I’ve been training all of this time. I take this very serious. I eat good, train hard. [Former two division champion and current head trainer] Joey Gamache is getting me ready. My strength and conditioning coach, my nutritionist are all keeping me on track.”

His next bout comes versus a fellow recovering coronavirus victim also on the comeback trail. Kauffman tested positive for the disease in late March, but—like Wallin—managed to return to full health and now to the ring. The fight will be the first for the Reading, Pennsylvania native since a 10th round stoppage loss to Luis Ortiz in December 2018. Subsequent shoulder surgery and a COVID-canceled April 11 PBC on Fox undercard appearance has led to a 20-month inactive stretch by the time he hits the ring on Saturday.

Once the opening bell sounds, Wallin suspects his well-schooled opponent will be ready to fight.

“[Kauffman] grew up in boxing. He’s always been a boxer and has some decent skills,” acknowledges Wallin. “He’s a fan friendly fighter. Usually he gets knocked down or the opponent gets knocked down. It’s always fun to watch him. I have been studying him and his fights. I’ve been watching with Alexander, Chris Arreola, Tony Grano, Luis Ortiz. They’ve all been great fights.

“He’s been out two years. He had shoulder surgery. All that matters. I know that he doesn’t take care of himself between fights like I do. I just think that all works to my advantage. I’m younger, I’m fresher and I’m a good fighter. And I’m hungry. It’s a very good matchup for me.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

Kauffman will be Naazim Richardson's first boxer to fight since his death..

[DrDuke]

Wallin performed as expected, outboxed Kauffman confidently. Wallin's jab was great. The injury looked strange. At first it seemed, that Wallin hit Kauffman at the solar plexus, after what Kauffman was hurt, but actually Travis got a shoulder injury. It's only not clear, how exactly it occured. Anyway, Wallin won every round and was looking more and more convincing in the process of the fight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Following the fight, Kauffman explained that he was going to retire from boxing.

“I tore my left labrum getting ready for the [Luis] Ortiz fight,” Kauffman said. “Like a dummy, I waited five months to have surgery on it after the Ortiz fight [December of 2018]. I started feeling better and was going to do a tune-up fight in March, but then COVID happened. This opportunity [with Wallin] came up and I didn’t want to pass it up and I felt good.

"In the first round I hurt it. I felt it, but then it went away and I thought maybe it’s just my mind and it went away. Then in the fifth round I heard it and that was it. It was torn again.

“I’m done. I’m retiring. I have kids. I’ve been doing this a long time."