Otto Wallin vs. Dominic Breazeale - February 20, 2021

[gilgamesh]

wallin gives me a bit of a kubrat pulev vibe, in terms of ability and level, with good and fairly accurate but not hard straight shots.

That sounds about right. I think Pulev has a little more pop to his shots than Wallin, but yeah they're not far off in terms of skill. That would be an interesting matchup actually.

[gilgamesh]

Wallin makes a lot of sense as a WIlder comeback opponent.........PBC affiliated, on a decent run, no serious power to upset the apple cart

My thoughts exactly.

Agree with Gilga that Otto’s a top ten heavy. At least 10-12 fringe type guy. Would like to see him against other top ten heavys, and/or The Nordic Nightmare.

I thought he was Top 10 just off of his performance against Fury myself. A lot of people wouldn't put him there yet, having him either Top 15 or Top 20 respectively, but I think you'd have to give him the lower end of the Top 10 off of his performance tonight. Because Breazeale is on the fringe like that, and this fight wasn't close.

[margaret thatcher]

i thought he was at least top 20, though had debates with dudes before this who said he wasnt even top 50

top 10-15 seems firm given he now actually has a notable win now + giving the #1 a tough fight

[gilgamesh]

i thought he was at least top 20, though had debates with dudes before this who said he wasnt even top 50

top 10-15 seems firm given he now actually has a notable win now

Yeah the performance against Fury should've established him as no worse than Top 15. I mean f*ck he did better than Wilder did in the rematch. That's gotta be worth something.

[AntonioMartin]

I think Breazeale is done....

[gilgamesh]

I think Breazeale is done....

Yeah pretty much. He was never very good in the first place. Slow, sh*t defense. He did well to make it far enough to get a title shot. He got 2 I believe. He'd be nothing but a gatekeeper now if he sticks around. Which is really all he ever was. All things considered for a guy who started late in the sport, and didn't have much else going for him except right hand power he did well for himself.

[bobcatbox]

I think Breazeale is done....

Yeah pretty much. He was never very good in the first place. Slow, sh*t defense. He did well to make it far enough to get a title shot. He got 2 I believe. He'd be nothing but a gatekeeper now if he sticks around. Which is really all he ever was. All things considered for a guy who started late in the sport, and didn't have much else going for him except right hand power he did well for himself.

Throw him in there with Michael Coffie. PBC can keep giving me all the decent level heavyweight action a man wants.

[AntonioMartin]

I think Breazeale is done....

Yeah pretty much. He was never very good in the first place. Slow, sh*t defense. He did well to make it far enough to get a title shot. He got 2 I believe. He'd be nothing but a gatekeeper now if he sticks around. Which is really all he ever was. All things considered for a guy who started late in the sport, and didn't have much else going for him except right hand power he did well for himself.

aha!
You know it's pretty funny but this bout reminded me of one which took place when I was a boy between the late warriors Greg Page and Jimmy Young.

Page dominated the first eight, then Young came back to win 3 of the last 4 to make it competitive-looking and thats pretty much how this one was too!

[candyslim]

Do you remember Jimmy fighting Big George? Jimmy was an excellent technician for a heavyweight.

I don't think Wallin is top ten, maybe top 20. I can't see him beating Yoka, Hrgovic or some other rising prospects.

I've been thinking for a while, and have said previously, that a fight I'd like to see is Otto Wallin vs Agit Kabayel. Why is that? Well it is a much harder fight to predict than Wallin v Breazeale. They are both on the fringes of world level, both are capable boxers who lack knockout power, and the fight could be very significant in terms of Europe. There are better European heavyweights, but they are looking at world titles. Wallin v Kabayel can forget about world titles but this would be a good European title fight between two guys who might actually recognize they had found their level and who might actually stick around to chalk up some defences of it. It would be one for the purist though. If you were looking for a slugfest you'd be likely disappointed.

[margaret thatcher]

i dont see why people rate hrgovic so much, is it because he was a top am? cuz he's fighting pretty middling pro opposition and looks slow and sloppy to me, i wouldnt be surprised at all if wallin outpointed him. obvs wallins shortcomings are there but he's a sound boxer who gave fury one of his toughest fights in years and just tdominated an established contender

meanwhile hrg just caveclubs 45 year old former cruiserweights who just got out of jail and accumulates pretty much 0 valuable experience.

the fight vs the totally random guy in denmark was especially a joke

[margaret thatcher]

Do you remember Jimmy fighting Big George? Jimmy was an excellent technician for a heavyweight.

I don't think Wallin is top ten, maybe top 20. I can't see him beating Yoka, Hrgovic or some other rising prospects.

I've been thinking for a while, and have said previously, that a fight I'd like to see is Otto Wallin vs Agit Kabayel. Why is that? Well it is a much harder fight to predict than Wallin v Breazeale. They are both on the fringes of world level, both are capable boxers who lack knockout power, and the fight could be very significant in terms of Europe. There are better European heavyweights, but they are looking at world titles. Wallin v Kabayel can forget about world titles but this would be a good European title fight between two guys who might actually recognize they had found their level and who might actually stick around to chalk up some defences of it. It would be one for the purist though. If you were looking for a slugfest you'd be likely disappointed.

if you were advising wallin, would you advise him to 'stick around to his level' and fight kaybayel, or to take a comeback wilder fight, if offered both


i mean i guess he had success vs the world #1 and just dominated a recent mandatory world title challenger, so i can forgive him for shooting above the euro title level

[joshj909]

I've not watched the whole fight but the highlights on YouTube were some of the worst I've ever seen. Are there any actual talking points coming out of this?

[candyslim]

No of course I'm not suggesting that Wallin or Kabayel should turn down opportunities that arise. I'm just saying that realistically a world title fight is going to be an opportunity to make money, rather than an opportunity to make history, in the way Johansson did.

There was a time that a European Heavyweight Champion was really something to be. It seems those days are long gone and titles like European and Commonwealth are as disposable as the WBC Diamond Belt (just as a random example of a meaningless trinket). That is a crying shame in my opinion.

As to your point about Hrgovic, he was a top amateur and had a successful career in World Series Boxing. To me the guy oozes quality although to be fair he hasn't shown much of lately, I admit.

Clearly Maggie you are a fellow Brit so I'll give you a parallel example from football: When David Moyes was appointed at West Ham, I was among the minority of fans who were delighted. Others were saying he'd failed at Manchester United, Sunderland, and Real Sociedad - the guy was sh1t or the guy was shot (depending on your age group). To me he was a manager I admired when for years he had Everton punching above their weight. I felt he needed a club who would keep faith, remain patient, allow him to build as he did with the blue-scouse. My opinion is no longer a minority one. I have confidence my faith in Hrgovic will similarly be vindicated. Only get your skates on FFS Filip.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Goddamit, totally missed this one. what were the odds on wallin? If the books saw it as close I would have bet large on Otto

[Las Vegas boxing guy]

Breazeale will be back. And he's still a legit threat to anyone he faces. Don't forget that Dominic didn't start boxing until age 23 (and he managed to become an Olympian and earn 2 world title shot opportunities). Now, is Breaz beatable? Yes .. but future opponents would be wise to train hard before they enter the ring against him.

[candyslim]

@ Riddick: I would have put a good size bet on Wallin ... if I were a betting man. Having said that I'd have probably put my house on Foreman to beat Ali back in 74 so it's lucky that I'm not

@ LVBG: I lke Dominic. He's intelligent, He's affable, He has guts in abundance, and he seems like an all round nice guy. He's taken a lot of punishment though ,even though he hasn't had a large number of fights and isn't old by modern heavyweight standards. He's like a five year old car with 60,000 miles on the clock ... that has been used exclusively for rallying and then stock-car racing.

I'd like to be wrong but Dom's best days are now in the rear-view mirror.

[JxhDel.]

This totally puts Fury's win on a better level.

[DrDuke]

A good performance by Wallin. It was tough to give Breazeale a round, he won a couple of them max. Breazeale should be given a credit for increasing the pressure in the process of the bout, but during the vast majority of it he looked like a big and sloppy target for Wallin, who was coming to Otto's punches. Wallin showed good positioning, solid jab, decent right hand, good counters. He outboxed Breazeale from the range on the backfoot and neutralized Dominic in close.

Wallin proved to be a fair top 20 competitor with a serious claim for the top 10. I can see him pulling out a victory against Whyte or Ruiz, or Parker, for instance. Maybe he even outboxes Wilder, if doesn't get caught.

[Cyclops]

i dont see why people rate hrgovic so much, is it because he was a top am?

Stuff like this I suppose. He's been on the hardcore radar since he was a kid.

[Finkel]

Not sure how much beating Breazeale really elevated Wallin beyond what he had already shown in the Fury fight. But it does establish him more in the minds of general fan.

Realistically though, Breazeale had only fought 1 round in the two years before this fight with Wallin.

Breazeale was never really a top 10 fighter. Top 15-20 sure, but this was a very inactive Breazeale.

[margaret thatcher]

some dudes were pulling the 'hasnt beaten any one of note' card, so it's at least a win over a contender/fringe contender , aside from giving fury a tough fight

although i dont think i really learned anything new about him or that he made some statmenet. but i guess if you're like jugi and doubted whether he was even top 50 because he didnt have a notable win, well there one is

[margaret thatcher]

i dont see why people rate hrgovic so much, is it because he was a top am?

Stuff like this I suppose. He's been on the hardcore radar since he was a kid.

ya , prob right, i actally think he used to look better when he was younger and lighter

as a pro he's been a slow , sloppy clubber. obviously a strong guy, but im not seeing anything there that's really all that impressive or makes him a lock over a guy like wallin, who despite an obvious lack of power is a fairly tidy southpaw boxer/mover and is building much better pro experence than hrg

look at fill's recent opponents, it's embarassing, are his team not as confident about him as boxing forums are ?

[margaret thatcher]

No of course I'm not suggesting that Wallin or Kabayel should turn down opportunities that arise. I'm just saying that realistically a world title fight is going to be an opportunity to make money, rather than an opportunity to make history, in the way Johansson did.

There was a time that a European Heavyweight Champion was really something to be. It seems those days are long gone and titles like European and Commonwealth are as disposable as the WBC Diamond Belt (just as a random example of a meaningless trinket). That is a crying shame in my opinion.

As to your point about Hrgovic, he was a top amateur and had a successful career in World Series Boxing. To me the guy oozes quality although to be fair he hasn't shown much of lately, I admit.

Clearly Maggie you are a fellow Brit so I'll give you a parallel example from football: When David Moyes was appointed at West Ham, I was among the minority of fans who were delighted. Others were saying he'd failed at Manchester United, Sunderland, and Real Sociedad - the guy was sh1t or the guy was shot (depending on your age group). To me he was a manager I admired when for years he had Everton punching above their weight. I felt he needed a club who would keep faith, remain patient, allow him to build as he did with the blue-scouse. My opinion is no longer a minority one. I have confidence my faith in Hrgovic will similarly be vindicated. Only get your skates on FFS Filip.

i used to be a beliver in him too, but he's gotten noticably slower and sloppier as he's gotten heavier compared to his wsb days, and his defense is pretty porous too. tom little actually managed to stun him at one point because he was so open to a clean shot.

it may well be that he simply hasnt been put in with the type of challenges to motivate him, but the problem there is that matchmaking like that prevents the type of development and experience building that is so crucial moving up the levels

a guy like otto wallin came with 0 fanfare, no wsb or amateur fanfare, but he fought the absolute highest level in the division and had his moments, and now added a solid win vs a limited but tough contender who himself has been in with the top men (and who like hrg is a slow clubber). he is getting the type of experience that makes fighters improve a lot and develop as 12 round pros. i wouldnt be remotely surpsied if he outpointed hrg, he's faster and a better mover, has better defense, and is getting in the rounds at the right levels.

[margaret thatcher]

hrg should really be getting matched like joyce has----now there is a guy whose been taken along the right way for someone with a ton of wsb and amatuer experience.


hell, bryant jennings would still be a good opponent for fill, why don't they go after him?

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Brezeale has a lot of guts and is tough. But slow and zero defense doesnt win you fights when you get to the top 20

Wallin is in position for a fight against the perennial contenders i suppose in an eliminator- parker, whyte, etc

Wilder wont touch him. He might beat deontay. They need wilder to look and feel unstoppable. Enter Charles martin