Heavyweight Boxing: Anthony Joshua Defeats Wallin, Deontay Wilder Loses

Plans for the highly awaited heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder were shattered when Joshua defeated Otto Wallin, but Wilder unexpectedly lost on points to Joseph Parker on the same bill on Saturday night, December 23.

Anthony Joshua showed off his incredible boxing prowess in Saudi Arabia, outlasting Wallin until the end of the fifth round when Wallin’s corner decided to end the bout.

On the other hand, American Wilder—who had earlier in the evening in Riyadh appeared to be a shadow of his former self—suffered serious injuries as he lost by unanimous decision to New Zealander Parker in the eighth round.

Parker, a former world champion as well, was declared the winner by unanimous vote with judges’ scores of 118-111, 118-110, and 120-108.

After beating Wallin via knockout, Anthony Joshua commented on Wilder’s defeat to Parker saying: “I heard that Deontay lost. So what? He’ll be back. Deontay, everything that he said about me, I could rip him apart right now, but I’m going to take the higher ground.

“You can come back. If he wanted to, he could come back. I’m sure everyone still wants to see that fight.”

Before these bouts, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder were scheduled to fight in Saudi Arabia in 2024 but they were mandated to win their respective bouts last night.

Even though no contract had been signed, it was expected that the two would enter the ring following their respective bouts last night and announce an agreement to fight sometime in early 2024. But that couldn’t happen thanks to Wilder’s defeat.

After the bouts, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn declared that Joshua would almost certainly challenge Croatian fighter Filip Hrgovic for the vacant IBF world title in an effort for the Nigerian-born boxer to become a three-time world champion.

This means that the possibility of seeing Joshua face Wilder in a heavyweight boxing match has grown slimmer than ever.