Otto Wallin-Murat Gassiev Finalized For September 30 In Antalya, Turkey
Otto Wallin finally found another credible heavyweight willing to fight him.
The Swedish southpaw told Boxing Scene on Friday that he will face former unified cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev on September 30 in Antalya, Turkey. Their 12-round fight for a WBA regional title will take place at Regnum Carya Hotel.
Organizers of the Gassiev-Wallin fight were working at the time this story was posted to secure a broadcast or streaming partner in the United States.
His fight against Gassiev (30-1, 23 KOs) will be the most significant action for the 32-year-old Wallin (25-1, 14 KOs) since his October 2021 bout against Dillian Whyte was canceled on 10 days’ notice because Whyte reportedly suffered a shoulder injury. Whyte-Wallin was never rescheduled because Whyte was the WBC’s mandatory challenger and instead fought unbeaten champion Tyson Fury, who stopped Whyte in the sixth round of an event that drew a record crowd of 94,000 to London’s Wembley Stadium in April 2022.
“I feel great that I’ve got this fight coming up,” Wallin said. “The last couple years has been tough with no significant fights, but finally I have a big opportunity and I’m ready to take it with both hands. My training has been going really well and I’m excited to go out to Turkey and handle business.”
Wallin, whose only loss was a 12-round unanimous decision to Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) nearly four years ago, last fought January 27. He easily defeated Helaman Olguin (9-6-1, 4 KOs) by unanimous decision in a non-televised eight-rounder that night at Castleton Banquet & Conference Center in Windham, New Hampshire.
Russia’s Gassiev is 4-0 (4 KOs) as a heavyweight since he lost the IBF and WBA cruiserweight championships to Oleksandr Usyk in their title unification fight five years ago in Moscow. Ukraine’s Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), who fully unified the cruiserweight crowns by beating Gassiev unanimously in their 12-rounder, later outpointed Anthony Joshua twice in 12-round heavyweight title fights.
In his most recent action, the 29-year-old Gassiev knocked out previously unbeaten American Mike Balogun (20-1, 16 KOs) in the second round March 3 at the Karen Demirchyan Sports Complex in Yerevan, Armenia.
