By: Sean Crose
Former multi-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, 26-3, stepped into the ring in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to fight the man who once gave Tyson Fury a real run for Fury’s money, Otto Wallin, 26-1. His heavyweight fight, scheduled for twelve, brought with it many questions, most of them about Joshua, who had lost two of his last three fights. Joshua was determined to prove that he still had the “it” factor that, until recently, had earned him titles, esteem, adoration and a huge amount of money. Wallin, on the other hand, was looking for a huge victory to boost his reputation and his career.
Both fighters were patient in the first, positioning themselves and throwing their punches. Wilder, however, controlled the ring and for the most part seemed to be stronger than Wallin. Joshua’s punches were crisp and strong in the second round, a round he seemed to have well under control. By the third it was obvious that Joshua was simply too strong for his man. When he landed cleanly, Wallin, whose face was beginning to look bloody, would feel it. In fact, Joshua appeared very well in the fourth, controlled, easy and precise. In fact, he resembled the Joshua of old.
Joshua nailed Wallin with a thunderous right hand in the fifth. Wallin survived the assault, but every shot Joshua landed seemed to damage a part of the man. Wallin’s corner smartly stopped the fight between rounds, and rightly so. Wallin almost received a terrible beating. “What I want to do is come out victorious as much as I can,” Joshua said in the post-fight interview. “I’m looking for greatness, trying to get better.”
Joshua was then asked about Deontay Wilder, who he was supposed to fight in March, but who had lost to Joseph Parker earlier that night. “I’m going to take higher ground,” Joshua said, “and hope he (Wilder) comes back.”
