On September 14, 2019, Otto Wallin, the undefeated if little-known heavyweight from Sweden, was brought to the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas as a sort of human sacrifice, destined to fall quietly and presumably early at Tyson Fury's feet. Instead he caused a huge wound over Fury's right eye early in the fight and lost a unanimous decision that seemed closer than the scorecards indicated. It was a terrible night, but at the same time, as is typical for boxing, an unexpectedly wonderful night. “Congratulations to Otto,” Fury admitted after the fight. “Viking Warrior!”
Wallin, now 28-3, remains a world-class heavyweight still fighting for his last best throw. He's been in the game for two full decades, turning pro in 2013, and in all the years since, only one person has stopped him. It would be Anthony Joshuatwo-time world heavyweight champion, former Olympic champion and one of the hardest punchers in the division. “I've never been hit like that,” said Wallin, whose corner had common sense throw in the towel in December 2023 and take him to the hospital, where doctors surgically repaired Joshua's broken nose. “Fury put a lot of emphasis on his punches, but Joshua's punches were spicyvery strong and fast. Jake Paul could get hurt.”
He's referring to Friday night, when Paul, a former influencer whose only experience above 200 lbs. went up against a 58-year-old Mike Tysonwill face the same Joshua in a fight sanctioned by those diligent Florida State Athletic Commission public servants.
When Wallin tells me “this is a dangerous fight,” he's not talking about a broken nose, either. “I mean, Jake Paul can In fact get hurt,” he said.
Again, that's the whole point. Prospect of lasting damage is sale here. Alexander Usikthe world's greatest heavyweight, who outlasted Joshua twice, might as well have been writing promo copy. when he said“If Anthony Joshua wants to, he can kill this guy… I'll be praying for Jake Paul.”
A year after Wallin lost to Fury, Paul made his debut against someone named AnEsonGib. Paul is now 12-1 and has become a promotional force. As I already said, Paul was good at boxing. But there is no such fight. This is not a sport. It's a stunt that's a successor to Evel Knievel's ill-fated attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon. And it's a shame that the FSAC sanctioned this with the same opacity we've come to expect from boxing sanctioning bodies.
I'm not being a prude here. And not a hater. I don't expect anyone to get seriously hurt, especially if the promoter and fighter are the same person. I'm betting on a muted affair in the name of commerce. But that terrible chance still exists, and is now (thanks, Florida) a terrible precedent. What happens the next time a promoter wants to pit a two-time heavyweight champion against a YouTuber turned boxer? What's even more dangerous is that this fight becomes a reasonable argument for every proposed inconsistency.
“I wouldn't like that particular fight,” said Andy Foster, executive director of the California State Athletic Commission. “And I nominated Tim Shipman for president.”
Tim Shipman is the executive director of FSAC. The presidency Foster is referring to is the Association of Boxing Commissions, a consortium of government regulators designed, in theory, to bring sanity and sanity to the business of protecting fighters. Foster held the position for seven years and last summer nominated Florida's Shipman, who, of course, vowed to “protect the fighters to the best of his ability.”
However, when I contacted him on Monday, Shipman made it abundantly clear that he is not in the business of answering questions on this topic, at least not when there are big goals at stake in his home state. Instead, he explained that quoting journalists was not part of his job description and referred me to bureaucrats in Tallahassee. I was asked to ask them questions in advance, which, against my better judgment, I did. Among them:
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Did the medical staff weigh in on this decision to sanction the fight?
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What factors allowed the commission to overcome the vast differences in size and experience to sanction the fight?
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If Jake Paul were a lesser-known 12-1 heavyweight No promoter, would this fight have been allowed?
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Clearly this is a lucrative attraction for the state of Florida. Did this influence the decision?
Not surprisingly, I heard nothing from Tallahassee bureaucrats. If you ask me, that was the point. But it's worth remembering the next time Florida, or ABC for that matter, makes a controversial decision on fighter jet safety. Whose side are they on? Really on?
The truth is, I put Foster in an awkward position. He had enough respect for Shipman, a former Marine sergeant, to nominate him. And he has no complaints against Paul. “I think Jake Paul is a good fighter,” Foster said. “He is strong, brave, and not afraid. Probably no one will get hurt. But I'd like to see him get a few wins at heavyweight before something like that.”
I asked Foster whether his fellow commissioners felt the need to sanction fights between suspects if they were profitable. “There is some pressure,” he admitted. “I heard it.”
And California? “The government never put pressure on me to force me to fight this or that fight,” he said. “It’s not like I always got everything right.”
One of the things he got right was to ban the 2021 fight between 58-year-old Evander Holyfield and 44-year-old Vitor Belfort, the former UFC light heavyweight champion. Holyfield, who hasn't fought in a decade, took the fight eight days after Oscar De La Hoya pulled out due to COVID-19. “I didn’t feel like Evander was training at all,” Foster said.
It so happened that the Holyfield-Belfort tournament was held in Florida, in which then-former President Donald Trump called for action on September 11th. Holyfield, the bravest fighter I've ever covered, was knocked out in 109 seconds.
After the fight, Florida suspended Holyfield's license for 30 days for medical reasons.
