Heavyweight contender Otto Wallin (26-1, 14KOs) doesn't believe the unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14KOs) should still be in possession of the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles.
"Usyk, [in] his last fight, he got knocked out by [Daniel] Dubois," said Wallin, referencing Usyk's last fight, against Daniel Dubois in August, when the Ukrainian triumphed within nine rounds but not without controversy.
Dubois dropped Usyk with a body shot that landed on Usyk's beltline, however, referee Luis Pabon ruled the shot a foul, allowing Usyk more than four minutes to recover — per the unified boxing rules regarding fouls — before returning to action.
Referee Pabon’s call incensed the team of Dubois and his promoter Frank Warren, who unsuccessfully appealed the decision to the WBA. The sanctioning body ruled Pabon’s call correct, thus allowing Usyk to proceed in whatever direction he wished.
Wallin, though, agrees with Dubois and Warren that Usyk was given an unfair advantage in taking that amount of time to recover.
"I feel that was a legal blow he got hit with, and he was just on the floor complaining about it," the Swede said. "The referee did a terrible job telling Usyk to take more time. I’ve never seen that before. That can’t be legal. I didn’t understand it. Usyk didn’t look too good."
Wallin added that Usyk's main weakness is punches to the body, citing Usyk's undisputed cruiserweight encounter with Murat Gassiev, which Wallin studied before beating Gassiev by decision back in September.
"You see his other fights, I was studying the Gassiev fight, [he was] complaining about body shots and stuff," said Wallin. "I think that’s his weakness.”
Wallin returns to the ring December 23 when he faces Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is currently undefeated in six fights following his defeat to Tyson Fury in 2019.
Usyk, meanwhile, will fight Fury (34-0-1, 24KOs) on February 17, also in Riyadh, in a bout that has the undisputed heavyweight world championship on the line.
