Riyadh (Reuters)
Heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua turned back the years, defeating Otto Wallen at the “Kingdom Arena” in Riyadh, where the Swedish boxer decided to stop the fight during the break between the fifth and sixth rounds.
In the presence of football star Cristiano Ronaldo, the top scorer of Al-Nasr and the Saudi Professional League, and sitting next to former mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor to watch the fight in the Saudi capital, the two heavyweight boxers entered the ring, after two o’clock in the morning local time, and Joshua immediately began directing straight punches with his hand. Right towards his Swedish rival.
Joshua, the two-time unified heavyweight champion, dominated the fight from the center of the ring, forcing his opponent to spin around him, making Wallin struggle to launch any attack on his British rival.
Joshua, who beat Wallin on points twice in amateur competitions, injured the Swedish boxer in the fifth round, hitting him with hook punches with both hands, leaving him staggering and unsteady on his feet, while he was heading back to his corner in the ring, and his team informed the referee that he could not continue.
After improving his record to 27 victories and three defeats, Joshua, 34, said he was happy with the result, but he refused to say that he had returned to his previous self.
Joshua said in the ring after the fight: “I respect Otto. Throughout the preparation for the fight, I was telling everyone that I needed to focus on the man in front of me because I respect what he has to offer.”
This is Wallin's first defeat by knockout in his career and only the second after his defeat by Tyson Fury in September 2019.
In another match in the same show, New Zealand boxer Joseph Parker gave a brilliant performance to achieve an exciting unanimous victory over American Deontay Wilder.
#Joshua #drops #Whalen #Ronaldo