Otto Wallin is convinced that he’ll defeat Anthony Joshua on Saturday, and he won’t view it as being an upset when his hand is raised at the end of their fight at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A victory for Wallin would upset the applecart, messing up Joshua’s plans for a fight with Deontay Wilder, and would be a major setback for his world title hopes.
Wallin isn’t expected to win and was obviously chosen to rebuild Joshua’s self-confidence, but it doesn’t matter. In Otto’s mind, this is his moment, and he’s going to take full advantage of the opportunity to defeat the former two-time heavyweight champion.
In Wallin’s mind, he sees it as “natural” and that it’s his moment in his career to defeat the former King of the division, AJ, who has been booted off his throne by Oleksandr Usyk and is still hoping he can climb his way back.
Wallin sees cracks in Joshua’s armor
This would be a shock to Eddie Hearn if Otto defeats Joshua, but it’s come to this for AJ. The fighters that he probably would have beaten eight or nine years ago, he can’t be counted on to defeat them any longer.
It’s age rearing its ugly head, and all Hearn can do is hold his breath and keep his fingers crossed that Joshua doesn’t get beaten again by someone that he was supposed to defeat.
Hearn has done an outstanding job recently, bringing Joshua back after consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk and feeding him Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius.
He may have slipped up this time, though, by matching a little too tough against Wallin. Hearn says he was told by Turki Alalshikh that he wanted Wallin for Joshua.
“People are talking about upsets. I’m going to win the fight, and you shouldn’t call it an upset. It’s not really an upset; it’s just natural. This is my time, so I’m ready for it,” said Otto Wallin.
Joshua going to war: Is this the end?
“On Saturday, December 23rd, I go to war again. Eleven years in the game, and I’m still cracking on. I’m definitely progressing with more self-belief and confidence than ever,” said Anthony Joshua to talkSPORT Boxing. “No, definitely not because each fighter could headline independently with their own card,” said AJ about the top fighters that are on Saturday’s ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Saudi Arabia.
The only time Joshua has been able to keep from getting beaten in recent years is when Hearn feeds him a derelict-level opponent, and he can’t keep doing that to keep his career going a little bit longer. It’s already noticeable to the fans.
If Joshua wins and Wilder loses on Saturday, Hearn put him in with Filip Hrgovic because he’s a solid opponent, and they can fight for the IBF belt after it’s stripped from the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk winner.
For the fans who don’t remember. Joshua was expected to defeat Usyk and Andy Ruiz Jr. without any problems, and he lost. Neither of those fighters is great, but they were good enough to defeat what’s left of a fading AJ.
Wallin (26-1, 14 KOs) hasn’t been mentioned as a substitute to face former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on March 9th if he’s victorious against Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs).
That March 9th date is likely only for Joshua and no one else as the opponent for Deontay. If the 33-year-old Wallin beats Joshua, a rematch is a given, and he’ll get a nice payday, and if he’s fortunate, it’ll be the kind of money that Andy Ruiz Jr. got in his rematch with AJ. Ruiz got bumming around money, and he’s hardly worked ever since.
“If that’s what he’s banking on. He should be banking on his skills,” said Joshua when told that Wallin thinks he’s not mentally the same fighter he once was.
“I don’t think he knew what to do in the first Usyk fight,” said Eddie Hearn to talkSPORT. “He was told what to do, but he never really inputted it. It never went through the computer and said, ‘Okay, I get it.’ Now, it is, and for people like Ben Davison, who is on a great run at the moment, to turn around and say, ‘Watch this on Saturday.’ I’m excited to see it.”
A loss for Joshua would not only finish once and for all any hopes for a fight between him and Wilder, but it would add uncertainty to what’s left of his career. The defeat would be his fourth in his last seven fights, which is the kind of record one would see from a shot fighter who has very little left.
“You still got to do it in the ring, but when you’re sparring like that, and you’re putting that kind of hurt on people, we haven’t seen that for the last three, four or five fights. He’s been looking for a connection, and I think he’s got it,” said Hearn.
