Tyson Fury opened as the heavy favorite over little known opponent Otto Wallin. The popular UK heavyweight will fight for the third straight time in the U.S. when he puts his lineal heavyweight championship on the line against the undefeated Wallin on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

According to 888Sport in New Jersey, Fury is -2500 to defeat Wallin, who follows as the +1000 underdog.

Opponent Wallin is Undefeated But Untested

Wallin, 28, from Sweden, is undefeated, but he hasn’t really faced notable world-level competition. The fighter isn’t ranked among the top ten heavyweights in the world according to Ring Magazine, and it’s a little hard to comprehend exactly how Wallin ended up getting such a huge bout against the fighter most would consider the best heavyweight in the world.

Perhaps it’s because Fury’s team is more interested in keeping him active this year than anything else as they hope to prepare their fighter for a lucrative and important rematch against undefeated WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

Fury outboxed Wilder in December 2018 only to see his chance of winning the fight go by the wayside when Wilder managed to knock Fury down to the canvas in the final round. That knockdown was the second in the fight, and it was a minor miracle Fury was able to recover from the hard blow in a way that allowed him to hear the final bell.

The judges turned in a controversial split-draw which meant both champions kept their crowns. While many hoped for an immediate rematch, Fury instead signed a lucrative copromotional agreement with Top Rank that netted Fury a multi-fight deal with ESPN.

Fury’s Top Rank/ESPN Deal Seems Marketing Over Competition

So instead of getting Fury in the ring with Wilder again, it seems fans and bettors will have to settle on seeing him face the likes of Wallin and previous opponent, Tom Schwarz. While both will have entered the ring against Fury with unblemished records, neither had done anything of note beyond the regional level.

Fury knocked Schwarz out in just two rounds in June at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. That made good on the long odds posted by bookmakers for that fight. Fury was -2500 to defeat the +1100 Schwarz per 888Sport as fight week rolled around last time, and it appears he’ll have the same or better odds titled his way when it comes to facing Wallin in September.

Fury’s Remarkable Comeback Continues

Still, Fury’s comeback from addiction and depression is a remarkable story. It’s clear from the first two fights of his Top Rank/ESPN deal that his promoters believe that story alone is special enough for them to be able to market Fury to the U.S. audience without having to put him in against serious competition.

The implied goal is to build Fury into a bigger draw stateside before heading to the negotiating table to make the Wilder rematch. The first bout was a riveting contest and did well enough in terms of U.S. pay-per-view buys that it’s reasonable to think the second fight might do even better.