Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin
Honesty, it’s so quiet inside the arena shortly before Anthony Joshua enters. I know it’s nearly 2.30am over there but come on guys!
AJ strides with purpose. He looks relaxed, singing along with his walkout track. I won’t attempt to name it.
Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin
Ok then, it’s the final fight of the night. The big one. The top dog. Anthony Joshua looking for a statement win over an extremely confident Otto Wallin, who thinks this is going to be a walk in the park.
Wallin enters to ‘The Winner Takes It All’ by ABBA. That’s going to strike a chord with the floating voters. Not exactly an energetic track mind.
‘Ruined our plans’
Eddie Hearn, speaking to TNT Sports about that Deontay Wilder loss: “I said in the build-up I don’t rate him.
“Wilder had no idea, no clue. He lost every round. He had his hand up telling the referees he won the fight. He’s not right. That’s the reality.
“It was the most one-sided heavyweight fight I’ve ever seen. It’s ruined our plans. We’ve got to go let Anthony Joshua know Wilder lost to Parker.
“We must win this fight. And after that, I’m nervous.”
Tell us what you really think, Eddie!
Man of few words
Yep, we’re going to talk about Anthony Joshua’s demeanour again…
It seems that everyone becomes a body language expert on AJ fight week, studying he way he moves and every utterance out of his mouth.
And this week has been no different.
He’s been fairly quiet and has given a few one-word answers to questions, which has caused a stir. He’s disengaged in interviews and media events but insists he’s all business ahead of this contest.
“I want to fight. I want to perform well. Put that pressure on myself,” Joshua said. “I’m here to fight, I’m not here to party and get caught up in the glitz and glamour.
“Of course I’m tense because I want to perform, I want to win. I’ve got that urge to win and I want to hurt my opponent as well.”
‘Deontay Wilder blows NINE-FIGURE two-fight deal’
That’s the opinion of our boxing expert Wally Downes Jr.
Boxing friends
Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn, eh?
Former mortal enemies turned best buddies in Saudi Arabia. And it only took a Sheik with access to a truckload of money to make it happen.
It’s a modern fairytale.
Meeting for the first time on Wednesday, Hearn said: “I said we should forget the rubbish, that this is a big opportunity for Queensberry, Matchroom, for boxing and our fighters, so let’s not mess it up. He said pretty much the same to me.
“He’s alright actually.”
Don’t sound too surprised, Eddie.
