Whyte set to fight Wallin Oct. 30

Heavyweight Dillian Whyte, who is scheduled to fight on Oct. 30, now has his next opponent.

Otto Wallin will challenge Whyte for his WBC interim title in the main event of a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN at the O2 Arena in London.

Wallin manager Zach Levin told Fight Freaks Unite they signed the paperwork for the bout on Wednesday. Whyte also told FFU that he would be facing Wallin, who is best known for pushing WBC and lineal champion Tyson Fury to the limit in a decision loss in 2019.

“Signed today. It all came (together) very quickly,” Levin said in a text message. “This deal was consummated swiftly and easily, in no small part because of Otto and his team’s confidence about winning this fight. On October 30th at the O2, the heavyweight landscape will shift when Otto earns a signature win.”

Two weeks ago, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced the date and venue for Whyte’s next fight but he did not announce the opponent, which had not been signed yet.

There were negotiations between Whyte’s team and the Dmitriy Salita-promoted Jermaine Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs), but ultimately the fight was not made. Former three-time heavyweight title challenger Chris Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs), who is with TGB Promotions and Premier Boxing Champions, was also a potential opponent, but ultimately it was Wallin who got the fight.

Wallin (22-1, 14 KOs), 30, a southpaw from Sweden, was largely unknown when he got a shot at Fury in September 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He gave Fury fits, tore open two horrendous cuts over Fury’s right eye and nearly stopped him. But Fury was allowed to continue despite the brutal cuts that required dozens of stitches, and he went on to win a unanimous decision.

But Wallin had made a name for himself in defeat and has won both of his fights since. He stopped Travis Kauffman in the fifth round in August 2020 after both he and Kauffman had overcome bouts with Covid-19 and then he won a clear unanimous decision over former world title challenger Dominic Breazeale on Feb. 20.

In his last fight, the 33-year-old Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs), of England, regained the interim belt when he knocked out Alexander Povetkin in the fourth round of a one-sided destruction on March 27 in Gibraltar to avenge a devastating one-punch, fifth-round upset knockout loss to him in his previous bout in August 2020 in Brentwood, England.

Photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

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