By: Hans Themistode
It isn’t exactly easy finding someone who’s nearly seven feet tall and really knows how to fight. Being wrapped up in a global pandemic doesn’t help either.
For heavyweight contender Otto Wallin, that is the precise predicament he found himself in. The heavyweight contender sat back in his palatial estate and wondered who could he call to help assist him as he prepared to take on Dominic Breazeale this Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville Connecticut. After scrolling through his phonebook a little while, Wallin found the exact name he was looking for.
“Me and Adam (Kownacki) had some great sparring,” said Wallin during an interview with BoxingInsider.com. “We sparred four or five times. Adam is a tough guy, he comes forward and throws a lot of punches. He’s not as big as Breazeale but he puts pressure on you and Breazeale also tries to put pressure on his opponent so that was good for me.”
While Kownacki’s six-feet three-inch frame falls four inches short of Breazeale, the Polish native gave Wallin exactly what he was looking for. Opportunities to face top ten contenders haven’t exactly fallen in the lap of Wallin. At least, not recently.
Outside of Wallin’s much talked about contest against WBC and Ring magazine titlist Tyson Fury in September of 2019, the Swedish product has fought just once in the span of two years, a fifth-round stoppage win against Travis Kauffman roughly six months ago. Much like Wallin though, Breazeale has also grown accustomed to sitting on the sidelines for long stretches as his last contest came approximately two years ago against Deontay Wilder, a showdown Breazeale would ultimately lose in the first round.
For Wallin (21-1, 14 KOs), his latest string of inactivity is a pattern that he shakes his head at. Simply put, the heavyweight contender wants to fight.
Now however, with the chance to kick off his 2021 by jumping into the ring early, Wallin is hoping to build a bit of momentum by being seen more inside the ring and doing plenty of damage once he walks through those ropes.
“I haven’t been able to be that busy these last few years. I had one fight last year and one fight the year before that. If I can put in a great performance here and stop Breazeale that would be great for me. I think I would be able to pick up a lot of new fans. This is a big chance for me so I’m hoping that I can grab it with two hands.”
There will be no pity pat punches coming from Wallin’s side of the ring come tomorrow night. The soon to be 31-year-old knows good and well that if he doesn’t do something drastic come fight night, that there’s a good chance that he can and will be passed in the pecking order for a title shot.
That, on the other hand, won’t happen if Wallin gets fans to jump out of their seats with an eye-catching stoppage victory.
“Knockouts sell and that’s something that I want to do. He’s a big guy and a pretty good puncher. He’s also really dangerous when he’s hurt so I have to be smart but I think I can break him down and stop him.”