Doomsday for Wallin. Old Joshua returned and took the Swede out of the ring

Doomsday for Wallin. Old Joshua returned and took the Swede out of the ring

December 24, 2023, 03:10 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

Is AJ going for the title again?

On the night of December 23 to 24, a great evening of boxing took place in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the Day of Judgment. The main event of the tournament was the fight between former world champion Anthony Joshua and Swedish fighter Otto Wallin.

Joshua is one of the top stars in the heavyweight division and boxing in general. At one point, Anthony held the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts, but he lost them twice. In recent years, the Briton’s career has been quite controversial. In 2021 and 2022 he lost twice to Oleksandr Usyk and even considered retiring. This did not happen and Joshua decided to try for another title. In April of this year he won a unanimous decision against Jermaine Franklin and in August he knocked out Robert Helenius. The Finnish boxer replaced Dillian Whyte and lasted only until the middle of the seventh round. After that, there was talk of a possible fight with Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, but in the end AJ will fight Otto Wallin.

In the last fight, the Swedish athlete faced Russian athlete Murat Gassiev and won by split decision. Overall, Wallin is now on a six-win streak. However, Otto is famous not so much for his victories, of which he has already accumulated 26 in his career, but for his only defeat as a professional: against Tyson Fury. In that fight, the Swede showed himself excellent, he gave the Gypsy King a terrible cut, so the doctors could have stopped the fight, but they still lost by decision. A fight with Joshua and a victory over him could allow Wallin to enter the top of the best boxers in the world.

Main events of the Judgment Day boxing evening:

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AJ immediately took the center of the ring and started firing his jab. After a minute, the Brit noticeably checked Wallin’s liver and then tried to hit the jaw with a straight right. Otto waited for a counterattack, but was cautious. As a result, Joshua easily took the first segment of the fight. In the second round, the Swedish boxer was already more active, responding to attacks, but inferior in speed, so Anthony regularly performed simple but effective combinations.

Wallin tried to make counterattacks, blocked many blows, but Joshua very confidently overcame his opponent and controlled the course of the fight. At the same time, after the first active rounds, AJ switched to economical mode, only occasionally exploding in very dangerous series. At the beginning of the fifth round, Anthony caught Otto well and in the middle segment built on his success by firing a straight right and a left hook. Wallin even found himself dazed, but quickly recovered and survived the assault. However, after the gong in the corner of the Swedish fighter, they decided not to let him go out for the sixth round, the damage received was enough.

Joshua earned his third consecutive victory and his second by knockout. Wallin was always considered a strong fighter, he survived the fight with Fury, but Joshua practically left him no chance. The Swede’s first early loss in his career, but AJ is very close to returning to the title race.