Boxing Schedule: Heavyweights in Saudi

Day of Reckoning

The Day of Reckoning is upon us.

Now it isn’t the apocalypse nor is it a pro wrestling promotion.

Instead, it is an all-heavyweight card from Saudi Arabia that will see Anthony Joshua and Otto Wallin face each other, and Deontay Wilder fight Joseph Parker.

The collective sigh of promoters and fans will be for Joshua and Wilder to win their respective bouts which would set up a fight in March or April.

So much is odd about this event.

Let’s start from the top. First, it will take place two days before Christmas in Saudi Arabia. The event will start at 8 AM PST with the event more than likely taking a very long time, and probably go up until 3 PM PST.

Then add to the fact, that Joshua could easily lose to Wallin. This is a tough bout for him, and Wilder is coming off a 14-month layoff to fight Parker who has an excellent jab.

Neither of these bouts are guaranteed wins, which is exciting for the fans - yet concerning if you are a promoter. It feels like this card is set up in a fashion where something weird could happen.

What more can you say about these match-ups that everyone else won’t say?

Joshua has looked awful in 2023. He isn’t training with Derrick James for this fight and seemingly is running his own camp. Wilder knocked out Robert Helenius in one round over a year ago and suffered two brutal beatdowns to Tyson Fury over the past couple of years.

Both fighters are question marks.

Undercard.

The undercard is strange. For starters, one of the best fighters in the world, Dmitry Bivol is fighting Lyndon Arthur. A fight that shouldn’t happen. It is good to see Bivol back, but the disrespect to his career from executives has been chilling. Bivol is coming back as an undercard fighter after being the Fighter of the Year in 2023. On top of that, Bivol wasn’t given a main event fight on DAZN either.

It is a strange career arch as he holds a win over Canelo Alvarez and Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, yet seems to be out of the limelight once again.

Daniel Dubois, who had a controversy surrounding his fight with Oleksandr Usyk. He feels he dropped Usyk and should be a world champion. The ref called it a low blow, and then he got stopped after that. He faces Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, a fighter with past PED violations, and a style similar to Joe Joyce, a man who beat Dubois in the past. Dubois has been a head case at times, and this is a very dangerous fight for him.

Filip Hrgovic is fighting on this card. The bout isn’t all that exciting, but hopefully, it leads to something eventful. Frank Sanchez is getting a fight on the card against Junior Fa. Fa is known, but the outcome of this bout seems predetermined as Sanchez might be one of the best heavyweights who simply can’t get good fights. Hopefully, with a good fight here, Hrgovic and Sanchez can fight each other.

Other notable bouts on the card will see cruiserweight world champion, Jai Opetaia face a fighter I have never heard of. This is common in the cruiserweight division as it tends to be a top-heavy division. That said, Opetaia is ripe for a promotion to heavyweight shortly as he almost seems too relevant to be cruiserweight anymore, and this could be a bit of foreshadowing.

What could be the best fight of the night will be Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Agit Kabayel, a battle of undefeated heavyweights. Neither will probably be the best of their era, but both are solid fighters as this could steal the show - and is something to watch.

Happy Holidays.

No other promoters are putting on meaningful cards beyond this. I will be back on Monday to preview Naoya Inoue and Marlon Tapales. Enjoy the time with your family or the break from work, and thank you for believing in me.