Anthony ”AJ” Joshua vs. Otto “All In” Wallin
Anthony Joshua(26-3, 23KOs) has been the biggest star of British boxing for years, and for good reason. Not only did he unify 3 of the 4 major titles, but he looked fantastic and stayed fan friendly while doing it. He was a late starter as far as boxers go. Picking up the sport at age 18, it took him only 5 years to go from complete novice to olympic champion. When he turned professional in 2013 he still had his doubters, but his power was undeniable, and as his profile was rising along with his overall skill.
For the last 8 years at least, he consistently took the most difficult opponents of anyone else at the top of the heavyweight division, defeating such fighters as Dillion Whyte, Charles Martin, Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin, Dominic Brazeale, Kubrat Pulev, and the longest reigning heavyweight champion of all time, Vladimir Klitchko. As is bound to happen when you match yourself tough for that long, he’s picked up a couple losses along the way. His first was when Andy Ruiz jr, known for having blistering hand speed for a man his size, got the TKO victory. AJ was able to best Ruiz by boxing from the outside over 12 rounds in the rematch, becoming unified champion once again. His second and third losses were at the hands of the former undisputed cruiserweight and extremely skilled Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
Though the loss of “his” belts haunts him, 2023 has been a good rebuilding year for AJ. He started with a unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin in April at his home in the 02 Arena in Greenwich. In August he returned, only this time against a late-notice Robert Helenius. A right hand in the 7th round sent Helenius crashing to the canvas and the fight was waived off immediately. Though the initial plan was to rematch Dillion Whyte, getting some rounds in and defeating Helenius the way he did was definitely positive for Joshua and set him up nicely for the tough, game, and physical, Otto Wallin.
Swedish contender, Otto Wallin (26-1, 14KOs), turned professional in 2013 and remained undefeated through 20 fights. In April of 2019 he made his American debut against Nick Krisner, on the undercard of Claressa Shields vs Christina Hammer. The plan, of course, was to make a splash in the U.S., but because of a cut on Krisner caused by an accidental clash of heads, the fight was stopped in the first round and ruled a No-Contest.
It wasn’t long before he was invited back stateside, only this time he wouldn’t be on the undercard. None other than Tyson Fury, fresh off of a 2-round TKO win over Tom Shwarz, signed up for a clash with Wallin in T-mobile Arena Las Vegas in September of 2019. Though widely received by fans as a possible “cherry pick” before the fight began, Wallin did not come to lose. Wallin, not in awe of Fury as so many were before him, stayed in front of the then former champion, and refused to take a backward step. In round three a left hand from Otto tore open a cut on the right eye of the favorite, Fury. As the fight wore on there were ebbs and flows of both men’s successes, and more flows than ebbs of blood pouring from Fury’s brow. By the last round it was apparent that Fury had done enough to remain undefeated, but many talking heads at the time pontificated that the fight should’ve been stopped from the cut. Although Wallin had lost the fight, he had proven his worth on the world stage by giving “the Gypsy King” all that he could handle.
Since his impressive showing against Fury, Otto Wallin has had 6 fights and won all of them. His most recent was a split decision victory over former cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev, who’s only previous defeat had come at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk, and who had not yet lost a fight at heavyweight.
Otto Wallin and Anthony Joshua actually fought in the amateurs and have sparred one another whilst in the professional ranks, adding another layer of intrigue to this match-up. There is no doubt that “All In” Wallin is ready for his second chance at taking out a top heavyweight, in AJ, and showing the world what he is made of once again. As there is also no doubt that Anthony Joshua knows who he has in front of him, and has prepared accordingly.
