The Irish-born Aussie had a busy 2024, fighting three times. He outpointed Jerome Pampellone between two knockouts over Jack Gipp and Asemahle Wellem

Wallace has had a brief lay-off after having surgery on his hand but is happy for the time off and feels as though he will be back better than ever as he continues to rebuild from a loss to Leti Leti in 2021, which he avenged via knockout eighteen months later to get back on track.

Wallace said: “[After a couple of hand surgeries] I’ve gone from strength to strength. Having that loss to Leti Leti - then rematching him and knocking him out is probably the best thing that could have happened. I got that loss out of the way, it made me hungrier. I wasn’t an undefeated prospect anymore.” 

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The light-heavyweight division is currently at a bit of a standstill as three-quarters of the titles are tied up in the Dmitry Bivol vs Artur Beterbiev trilogy fight - with many top-ranked fighters waiting for their opportunity.

 

Wallace is ranked number two by the IBF and number seven by both the WBC and WBO. He said the state of the division is frustrating for the top fighters at the moment due to the uncertainty surrounding the belts. 

But he doesn’t want to focus on that - instead relishing the opportunity to fight again and stay ready for any opportunities that may come.

He said, “It's frustrating, we have done all this good work to get to number two in the IBF.”

He added: “It is what it is, all that stuff is out of my control. My job is to stay focused, and I've got a great team around me, and I'm happy to be given the chance to stay active”

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Having only fought in Australia so far, Wallace has gone through all the top opposition domestically at 175 lbs and is ready to take the next step to fight internationally because he has nothing left to prove at the national level. 

Wallace said: “I can’t get any higher [ranked] than I am without fighting an international opponent. I’ve taken the risk many times in Australia with Jack Gipp and even fought the South African guy [Asemahle Wellem]. I’ve got everything to lose and nothing to gain in those fights.” 

He continued: “We are happy to go wherever for the big fights, we have done all the hard work to get into the position I am now, so the main thing is to beat whoever they put in front of me, and no matter where that is, we will go.”

The Aussie said he will fight anyone to achieve his world title dream sooner rather than later, and is not overlooking Colin, but represents the next step on his journey to the top of the light-heavyweight division.

Wallace said: “My goal is to win a world title, and I'll fight whoever for that.”

He added on his future: “There is only so long you can wait. Hopefully, everything goes to plan. I‘m not overlooking this opponent, but hopefully we can get through him, and hopefully we can get a big fight towards the end of the year. You’ve got to shoot for the stars.”

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