The Day of Reckoning boxing card from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia wound up being a fun and entertaining day of boxing, and as an added bonus it happened during a time of year when we do not typically get much boxing.
All of the bouts were from the higher weight classes, with 6 of the 8 being heavyweight bouts. The co-featured main event featured Deontay Wilder squaring off against Joseph Parker, and Anthony Joshua squaring off against Otto Wallin. The expectation was that this would finally lead to a long awaited showdown between Wilder and Joshua, provided they both won, but that did not happen, and the results have shook up the heavyweight landscape as the boxing world awaits the upcoming clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for undisputed heavyweight supremacy.
In the two non-heavyweight bouts of the evening, WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitrii Bivol was absolutely dominant against Lyndon Arthur, where Bivol was awarded a 12 round unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout a 120-107 shutout in favor of the champion. The other bout involved lineal cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia making quick work of undefeated Ellis Zorro with a 1st round knockout.
The other 4 preliminary bouts were all contested at heavyweight, and they provided some fun entertainment. Filip Hrgovic stopped Mark De Mori in round 1 of an expected mismatch where Hrgovic was just staying busy as he awaits the opportunity to compete for the IBF heavyweight championship, an opportunity that should come sooner than later given Hrgovic’s status as the IBF #1 mandatory challenger. Undefeated Frank Sanchez took a step in the right direction when he scored a 7th round stoppage against Junior Fa. Then in one of the upsets on the card, Arslanbek Makhmudov got absolutely battered by Agit Kabayel where he was dropped three times before the fight was stopped in the 4th round. And finally Daniel Dubois rebounded nicely from his one-sided loss at the hands of Usyk back in August, and he scored a knockout against Jerrell Miller late in the 10th and final round of their fight.
The expectation that this Day of Reckoning would lead to a showdown between Joshua and Wilder, however, would not play out. Anthony Joshua held up his end of the bargain where he looked as sharp and focused as he has in years. AJ systematically outboxed and outclassed Otto Wallin en route to a 5th round stoppage win. Wilder, however, was absolutely dominated by Joseph Parker in this battle of former heavyweight champions. At the end of 12 rounds Parker was awarded a unanimous decision with scores of 118-111, 118-110, and 120-108. It was a career best victory for Joseph Parker, and since losing to Joe Joyce, Parker has now won 4 in a row.
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will provide a quick recap and review of all 8 fights on the card from the boxing Day of Reckoning. Please watch and enjoy the video. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).