It turned out to be dark Saturday night as Joseph Parker wrecked the hope of Deontay Wilder in an explosive boxing encounter on December 23.
Similarly, Anthony Joshua rolled back the years to secure a fifth-round stoppage victory over Otto Wallin on Saturday night, December 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
As it turned out, Wilder will not fight his rival, Joshua looks in 2024 after the American was beaten by
Parker continually caught Wilder with the overhand right throughout the fight, beating the odds.
In the first few rounds, there was barely a punch thrown as Parker was understandably wary of Wilder’s right hand.
In the third round, Parker landed a few jabs, while Wilder was trying to punch with his ending right hand, but failed in that respect.
Parker then started landing a few big right hands and quick combinations.
Wilder finally unleashed his right hand in round six, but the man from New Zealand continued to build a lead on the judges’ scorecards.
By round eight, Parker had already grown more confident, sticking to his game plan and towards the end of the round he almost knocked out Wilder, pinning him against the ropes and landing overhand right after overhand right.
As the fight entered the championship rounds, Wilder was still showing no sign of urgency despite the bout being close to slipping away from him.
In the 12th and final round of the fight, Wilder finally let his hands go, swinging wildly at his opponent, but it was a little too late as Parker earned his victory, claiming an unanimous decision win with scores of 118-111, 118-110, 120-108.
Meanwhile, Joshua came flying from the first minute was not afraid to let his hands go, drawing blood from Wallin’s nose before unleashing a series of powerful shots in the fifth round. The fight was brought to a halt before the sixth round could begin as Joshua wrapped up 2023 in style by cruising to a one-sided victory.
The result appeared to wreck any hopes of a blockbuster meeting between Joshua and Deontay Wilder, who looked rusty and was simply not good enough to avoid being shown up by Parker over 12 rounds.
The British Nigerian boxer said in his post-fight interview that he would still be open to facing Deontay Wilder in spite of the Bronze Bomber’s disappointing loss to Joseph Parker.
“Deontay, everything he said about me, I could rip him apart right now,” says Joshua.
“But I’m gonna take the higher ground and say I hope he comes back. I’m sure everyone still wants to see that fight, right? Or do they want to see me fight?”
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn adds: “This Anthony Joshua is the best heavyweight in the world. With this mindset he is unbeatable.”
Anthony Joshua defeats Otto Wallin by a 5th round corner stoppage, improving his record to 27-3 (24 KOs).
Champ!🔥😁💪 pic.twitter.com/akegSH0s6q
— San Deji📊 (@Iam_SanDeji) December 24, 2023
