Saturday, December 23 Antonio Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) dominated Otto Wallin (26-2, 14 KOs) as the co-main event of “Day of Reckoning” at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. AJ was expected to defeat Wallin by us at Big Fight Weekend. After this impressive victory, Eddie Hearn spoke about AJ’s performance and said: “he’s back”, while attention now turns to who the British fighter’s next opponent could be.
The future of Anthony Joshua
How to watch Anthony Joshua’s fights
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Joshua vs. Wallin Recap
AJ quickly took control of the fight and showed serious intentions, using his jab to maintain distance before continuing with right crosses. It was an effective tactic, which ensured that he controlled the pace of the fight from the first round. Joshua switched between body and head effectively with his jab, and his Swedish opponent was unable to gain a foothold in the fight. There was much cheering and applause from the crowd each time the British fighter threw a punch.
AJ was winning rounds in dominant fashion, even at the beginning of the fifth round, where a cross shot, followed by a huge left hook, visibly hurt the Swede. AJ sensed that the stoppage was near and attacked out of spite. Wallin retreated to his corner at the end of the round, where his trainer decided to end the fight. After the fight, Eddie Hearn was asked about Joshua’s performance: “He is back. David Davison and the team told me he was back.”
Filip Hrgović
A possible IBF world heavyweight title fight is a real possibility, confirmed after the fight by Hearn, who said: “Be Hrgovic against AJ for the world title (IBF).“
Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk is scheduled for February 17 for the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO undisputed titles. Fury and Usyk have signed a two-way rematch agreementwhich guarantees a rematch, as the IBF belt is likely to be vacated before the second fight, making it impossible to fight against the mandatory title.
AJ was dominant under Ben Davison against Wallin, and it remains to be seen if he remains in the field for a potential world title fight against Hrgović. At 1.98m, the Croatian wrestler uses his size well and continues to advance, proving against Zhang that he can fight off the back foot when necessary. Joshua will need to employ similar tactics to the ones he used against Wallin and use his jab and his quick hand speed to fool his opponent.
Zhilei Zhang
Zhilei Zhang is all over the place when it comes to big fights in the heavyweight division. He impressed in his dominant win in rematch against Joe Joyce and is a realistic future opponent for AJ.
The Chinese heavyweight is accurate with his punches and throws everything with spite. His destructive attacks on Joyce show that he would be a real threat against Joshua. Zhang has a strong chin and will need to be solid defensively to withstand AJ’s guaranteed strong hits. It will be imperative for Joshua to use his jab and move well to avoid the heavy hooks of the “Big Bang.”
Deontay Wilder
Deontay Wilder He also appeared in “Day of Reckoning” but was defeated by a dominant joseph parker. Wilder was unable to get going throughout the 12 rounds as the South Auckland-born fighter outboxed his American opponent and appeared to hurt the “Bronze Bomber” on more than one occasion.
Eddie Hearn confirmed after the fight: “I’ll be honest, we were supposed to announce Deontay Wilder in the ring by March.” This agreement was reported by and rafael days before, but it was contingent on neither of them losing. A fight between AJ and Wilder seems like it’s never been that far away, but if it were to happen, it seems hard to overlook a dominant victory for Joshua following both fighters’ performances in Saudi Arabia.
