Deontay Wilder will be fighting Joseph Parker on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s headliner against Otto Wallin this Saturday night on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Saudi Arabia.
These two fights are supposed to set up a showdown between Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) and Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) for March 9th. Deontay has been waiting seven years to get this fight after Joshua reportedly turned down $50 million years ago. It looked bad that AJ turned the fight down years ago, but this is his last chance.
In looking at these two fights on Saturday, if there’s anyone who is going to ruin the Joshua-Wilder fight from happening, it’s going to be Joshua. Don’t be shocked if AJ loses to Wallin (26-1, 14 KOs) in their main event clash at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
During the interviews yesterday during the grand arrivals, Joshua looked like a man with zero confidence whatsoever, looking distraught, like someone doomed soul heading to the Bastille prison in the 14th century. AJ looked mentally shattered yesterday, and all the junk that he was talking about, he clearly didn’t believe it.
AJ feigned confidence, but his eyes revealed his fear. Whatever confidence that Joshua once had earlier in his career has abandoned him since 2019. It’s finally hit him. He knows what’s at stake for this fight on Saturday night, and he looks like he’s got the shakes.
There’s so much money on the line, and he cannot afford to lose if he wants to get the big $50 million payday against Deontay.
Joshua doesn’t look like he doesn’t have it anymore. AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, needs to tell him to make sure he gets the victory on Saturday night so he doesn’t ruin the Deontay Wilder mega-fight in March.
Hearn told the media that Wilder needs to make sure he wins, but he needed to be telling AJ that because he looks like he’s got it in him anymore.
Joshua wasn’t like this for his last two cupcakes, Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin, and you can tell that he’s deeply worried about what he’s up against facing Wallin. Knowing the gigantic payday he’ll be losing out on if he gets beaten by former Swedish amateur star Wallin has sapped what little self-confidence AJ had left in him.
You can argue that Joshua never wanted to fight Deontay Wilder. He doesn’t have it in him to face this kind of puncher & talent.
