Joshua-Wallin December 23rd Card Update: Makhmudov, Sanchez Vs. Fa, Filip Hrgovic, Dubois Vs. Miller & More
By Robbie Bannatyne: Additional planned fights for the Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin fight were revealed today for the December 23rd card in Saudi Arabia. Deontay Wilder is also on the card fighting former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.
It’s thought that the Saudis are setting the table for a Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder for the first quarter of next year. The boxing public would prefer they fight now, considering they’ve talked about making this fight for the last seven years.
Dan Rafael gave an update today for this mouth-watering card, which looks promising thus far. Granted, none of the fights are outstanding, but the sheer number of name fighters on the card makes it an interesting one.
It’s nice to see so many notable fighters in one event, even if they’re matched against no-hopers.
The vast majority of them aren’t great match-ups. With some tinkering, the promoters for the event could have two or three excellent fights, but unfortunately, that won’t happen.
Planned fights for December 23rd in Saudi Arabia
- Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin
- Deontay Wilder vs. Joseph Parker
- Dmitry Bivol vs. Richard Rivera
- Filip Hrgovic vs. TBA
- Daniel Dubois vs. Jarrell Miller
- Frank Sanchez vs. Junior Fa
- Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. TBA
One name that jumps out at you is #3 WBC heavyweight contender Arslanbek Makhmudov (18-0, 17 KOs), who will face a still-to-be-determined opponent. The card will be shown on PPV, but there’s still no word how much it’ll sell for.
Hopefully, for the sake of fans, Makhmudov gets a better opponent than the guy he was matched against on the recent Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou card last October. That fighter, Junior Anthony Wright, looked like he didn’t belong in the ring with Makhmudov.
Makhmudov might be the best heavyweight on the card because he’s a killer and would be pure trouble for any of the guys on the card. It’ll be interesting to see who he’s matched against.
The Saudis must be paying a boatload of money to round up all these fighters on one card, especially with the addition of Anthony Joshua & Deontay Wilder.
Those are the heavy hitters on this career, the big stars, who won’t come cheap. AJ & Wilder are still good fighters, but they’ve done zero in recent years, and both are living off of their past accomplishments. That’s how it goes with fighters.
They put together some good fights when they’re younger, then after they become filthy rich, they rarely fight but still get huge money when they do.
British boxing fans will be pleased to see recently knocked out heavyweight Daniel Dubois on the card. Poor Dubois got a raw deal in his fight with IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk after dropping him with a clean body shot in the fifth, only to have the referee rule it as as a low blow. Usyk was so hurt from the body shot that he stayed down for four minutes, trying to catch his breath.
Dubois (19-2, 18 KOs) will reportedly face unbeaten 35-year-old Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). That’s not a great fight, but Dubois needs a confidence-builder and that’ll serve the purpose.
Miller is coming off a win over Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne last March, and he’s still trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered career, which fell apart in 2019 after failed drug tests. He ended up missing out on what would have been a massive fight against Anthony Joshua in June 2019.
As mentioned previously, Deontay Wilder will be battling Joseph Parker in the co-feature in a contest between two struggling heavyweights who will be trying to keep themselves relevant to the boxing public.
Another possible fight on the card is cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
