Anthony Joshua will top the bill over Deontay Wilder on 'Day of Reckoning' card in mega Saudi bonanza

19/12/2023 13:11

Anthony Joshua will headline the main event for the huge ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Saudi Arabia this weekend.

On Saturday night, Joshua will take on former Tyson Fury opponent Otto Wallin – live on talkSPORT – as he tops the bill on a stacked card.

Fighting before him will be Deontay Wilder, as he takes on one-time WBO heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker.

This comes after Wilder had been hoping his fight would be the main event, having previously told 78SPORTSTV: “They [the Saudis] came up with it, they came up with the order and they’re going along with it.

“The only thing I’m not certain of is whether I’mma be the main event or Joshua’s gonna be the main event, we don’t know yet.

“I’ve requested them to do a flip of a coin. So we’ll see what happens.

“I feel I should be main event, I think I should be main event because of what I carry.

“People wanna see knockouts, and we know for sure, if you wanna see that, who’s the man to do it?

“Women lie, men lie, but numbers do not lie.

“With all that being said, they’ve been wanting a knockout king, they want to give their people that.

“They want a body on that canvas shaking and doing all kinds of freaky s***, so what other man to do it?

“They’ve had Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk there and they’ve done their best, but now it’s my turn.”

But Wilder has not got his wish, as he joins the undercard alongside fights such as Daniel Dubois vs Jarrell Miller, Dmitry Bivol vs Lyndon Arthur and Jai Opetaia vs Ellis Zorro, among others.

Though one thing is for sure, if Joshua and Wilder win their respective clashes, then they will both headline an even bigger card of their own as they are expected to fight next.

It is believed that the two rivals have agreed to face each other, with a deal reportedly pencilled in for March 2024.

A location is not yet known, but the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh would be a contender.