Anthony Joshua goes up against Otto Wallin on Saturday, December 23 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The pair battles it out in the headliner of the “Day of Reckoning” fight card live on DAZN.
British former two-time unified heavyweight champion, Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) looks for his third win in a row. New York-based Swedish southpaw, Wallin (26-1, 14 KOs) is riding a six-fight winning streak. Battling it out in the main event, both fighters make their third ring appearance for the year.
Ahead of his bout on the top of, what he called, “the best fight card in history”, 34-year-old native of Watford, Hertfordshire talked about his training camp and expressed praise and respect to his team mates and coaches.
“In terms of camp, I respect all of the fighters,” Anthony Joshua said about his training at Ben Davison Performance Centre in Harlow, Essex. “They’ve been there before me. To go in there, I’m aware I’ve got to be respectful of their space as well. I’m not in there like the big Charlie like, ‘yeah I’m here now’. Nah, I respect everyone there, I show them love.”
“I’m a big supporter of boxing. Everyone wants to do well. Everyone just wants to push themselves. So I’ve gone in there with that energy – ‘come on let’s go, let’s push ourselves, how can we get better?’”
“Me and Jeamie TKV [Tshikeva] we do our crunches and our abs together, me and Leigh Wood do circuits together, Shabaz [Masoud], Pat [McCormack], Luke [McCormack] and all of the other boys in there. I respect the coaches as well.”
Anthony Joshua: I’m really happy that I was in training camp early
“It’s a really good environment that gym. I’m happy I was there early enough that I basically had a full camp for this fight. Even though it came up at a late stage like seven weeks out, I’m really happy that I was in training camp early on because this opportunity I didn’t want to miss for the world.”
“This is the best fight card in history. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like this. Most fight cards you know, you put it on but you’re outside, you’re on the phone, you’re eating, you’re cooking and when the main even comes on you rush back to your seat. This one you want to be sat down from start to finish. Make sure you tune in.”
In the co-main event, former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) of the United States takes on former WBO champion Joseph Parker (33-3, 23 KOs) of New Zealand. Also on the card, Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) of Kyrgyzstan defends his WBA light heavyweight title against Lyndon Arthur (23-1, 16 KOs) of England.
Among other bouts, former WBA heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (19-2, 18 KOs) of England meets undefeated Jarrell Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs) of the United States. Plus, undefeated former IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia (23-0, 18 KOs) of Australia goes up against unbeaten Ellis Zorro (17-0, 7 KOs) of England.
In Australia, Joshua vs Wallin airs live on Sunday, December 24.
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