On Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, one of the most star-studded boxing bills in recent years will go down in Riyadh.
Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder will top a show dripping with heavyweight talent at the Kingdom Arena, as well as superstars like Dmitry Bivol.
Furyjoshua.com asks, and answers, some of the big questions ahead of fight night.
This is a huge night of boxing in Saudi with some amazing talent. Which fight are you most excited to see?
Some of boxing’s biggest names have been lured to the Kingdom for a frankly outrageous eight-fight card. All eyes will be on Deontay Wilder, the wrecking ball heavyweight who has seen less than a round of competitive action since that memorable trilogy with Tyson Fury. He fights Joseph Parker, a useful former WBO world champion who has been part of Team Fury for several years.
Parker is big, brave and game but crucially he is not elusive and that might cost him against Wilder, who is arguably the hardest ‘pound-for-pound’ puncher in the sport. It will be interesting to see how much Wilder – who is 43-2-1 (42) – has left at the age of 38.
Day of Reckoning: Fight card, running order
- MAIN EVENT: Anthony Joshua (1/4) v Otto Wallin (11/4) (Approx 11.45 GMT)
- Deontay Wilder (1/6) v Joseph Parker (4/1)
- Daniel Dubois (4/11) v Jarrell Miller (9/4)
- Dmitry Bivol (1/20) v Lyndon Arthur (10/1) - for WBA lightweight title
- Arslanbek Makhmudov (1/16) v Agit Kabayel (8/1)
- Jai Opetaia (1/33) v Ellis Zorro (10/1)
- Filip Hrgovic (1/66) v Mark de Mori (12/1)
- Frank Sanchez (1/33) v Junior Fa (10/1)
Start time and TV coverage details
- Undercard: Approx 16.15 GMT, Saturday December 23
- Main Event: Approx 11.45 GMT
- TV channel and cost: DAZN PPV & TNT Sports (both £19.99)
Then we have Anthony Joshua in the co-main event. AJ faces a decent test himself against Otto Wallin, a capable Swede who has only lost once in 27 fights. Joshua has notched a couple of low-key wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius so far in 2023, and would no doubt love to end the year with a bang.
Joshua’s critics feel he has not been the same fighter since that stunning loss to Andy Ruiz in 2019, but he keeps on grinding and looks set for another enormous payday in 2024 if everything goes to plan here. That is because Joshua and Wilder, finally, will fight in Saudi Arabia on March 9 – as long as they both win on December 23.
AJ and Wilder have seemingly been on a collision course to face each other for years. How realistic is it that they will box in 2024 if they both come through in Riyadh?
Never say never in boxing, but this now feels like a done deal. It’s a huge fight and should they box March, the Brit and the American will touch gloves just three weeks after Fury and Oleksandr Usyk meet to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999. So in terms of the bigger picture, this is a hugely significant time for heavyweight boxing.
From looking moribund just a few years ago, it is suddenly full of possibilities and this is obviously good news for the sport and for the fans.
And if they do fight next year, who starts as favourite and why?
You can make convincing arguments for both men, and that is probably why one UK bookmaker has Wilder priced up at 5/6 at the time of writing to win any clash between the pair, with the Londoner an even-money chance. This has the feel of a real 50/50 showdown, what the Vegas old timers might call a pick'em fight.
🥊🤩 Anthony Joshua says there's never been a card like the 'Day of Reckoning' but we've dug out these belters from Don King back in the day.
— Sport on Sporting Life (@SLSport_) December 20, 2023
👍 That said, Saturday night will still be one of the best value PPVs for many a year... pic.twitter.com/BFLouK69Kr
Joshua is the better boxer and superior in terms of the fundamentals, but the Alabaman has a clear edge when it comes to punching power. Wilder can look very crude in there despite all of his experience, but he has built a very successful career on his powerful right hand getting him out of jail time and time again.
Joshua has a complicated legacy. He is an Olympic gold medallist and former two-time world heavyweight champion who has acquired incredible wealth from boxing. Yet his deep respect for his sport’s decorated history means he has often studied those who came before him, and he knows he probably needs to win the heavyweight belts again to be remembered among the best.
Joshua once said – ironically in a presser before his first professional defeat by Ruiz – "The people who lose and don’t perform, don’t go down in history" and so he will be laser-focused on taking care of business against Wallin and then Wilder in the next three months.
Joshua and Wilder are the biggest names on the bill. However, who are the heavyweights to look out for on this card who are perhaps flying a bit under the radar?
This is an undercard loaded with intrigue. Filip Hrgovic is world-class and will showcase his skills, while the 18-0 Arslanbek Makhmudov also boxes and he looks a real prospect. Purists should also marvel at the smooth skills of the 23-0 Frank Sanchez.
The fight that could steal the whole show is actually Daniel Dubois against Jarrell Miller.
Miller is a disgraced drug cheat, and it says much about the sport that he is able to fight here for big money despite his chequered past – but here we are. That aside, ‘Big Baby’ is unbeaten and will see this bill as his chance to rejoin the heavyweight top table (he was due to fight AJ in the summer of 2019 before testing positive for PEDs).
Dubois is looking to rebound after a controversial defeat by Usyk last time out, and both men can punch and like to fight on the front foot. In terms of personality, they could not be any less alike. Miller is a brash New Yorker who has been very vocal in the lead up, but Dubois prefers to do his talking in the ring and this fight could be a real showstopper.
AJ has said there has never been a card like it. Has there ever been a better one in years gone by?
This is some card – no doubt about it. In the modern era, it is difficult to think of any bill which compares. In fact, you might have to rewind all the way back to 1979 and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Don King earned a reputation for putting on some stacked cards in the 1980s and 1990s, but this one from September 1979 might have been the best of the lot. Headlining was Larry Holmes, then WBC heavyweight champ, in a rematch against Earnie ‘The Acorn’ Shavers.
The incomparable Sugar Ray Leonard was also on the bill against Andy Price, while old ‘Hands of Stone’ himself Roberto Duran boxed Zeferino Gonzalez. If that wasn’t enough, legendary Puerto Rican Wilfredo ‘Bazooka’ Gomez defended his WBC super-bantamweight crown against Carlos Mendoza. One card, four future Hall of Famers. Amazing when you think about it.
Whatever you might think of King as a person, the Dapper Don provided some great undercards back in the day.
Mike Tyson v Evander Holyfield I is another card which sticks in the memory. As well as Holyfield producing a seismic shock in the main event to win the WBA heavyweight world title by stopping Tyson, Michael Moorer defended his IBF heavyweight world title by beating Frans Botha, while Henry Akinwande boxed Alexander Zolkin for the WBO heavyweight world title.
The brilliant – and then unbeaten – Ricardo ‘Finito’ Lopez was also on the card alongside female boxing pioneer Christy Martin.
Dmitry Bivol is on the card. The Russian's career should have skyrocketed after he beat Canelo Alvarez in May 2022, but he has boxed just once since. What's the story?
Bivol was just magnificent in beating Canelo, controlling the distance and comprehensively outboxing a modern great for a deserved win on the cards. He followed that up with another punch-perfect display against Gilberto Ramirez in November 2022, and then seemed to disappear off the scene.
The good news is he has not gone off the rails or fallen out of love with the sport. The truth is he has been injured and fights in Saudi against Manchester’s Lyndon Arthur. The plan is for Bivol to come through that and then box the winner of Artur Beterbiev v Callum Smith in 2024.
Bivol v Beterbiev is one of the hottest fights out there, so fingers crossed they can get that over the line next year.
The rising cost of watching big fights and following the sport on different media platforms has been a major concern for hard-core fans. What has been the fan reaction to the PPV price announcement for this event?
The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. In the UK, the 'Day of Reckoning' card will be a dual-broadcast PPV event – available live on both DAZN PPV and TNT Sports Box Office for £19.99. That is sensible money when you consider the quality on show here. Even in the US, where PPV events are often notoriously expensive, the show is being offered for $39.99.
In a refreshing twist, Turki Alalshikh – chairman of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment authority – has been vocal in driving the price of this PPV down, saying recently: "We want all boxing fans to be able to join this evening with us, so we have requested that all of our broadcast partners reduce the pay-per-view to these prices to offer exceptional value for the fans."
This feels like another display of financial might from the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority. Are they in boxing for the long haul?
It increasingly seems that way. Riyadh Season runs from October to March and is an annual state-funded entertainment and sports festival extravaganza. To be fair, football, tennis, UFC and the WWE are also getting in on the act this year, yet it seems the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority are very fond of the noble art and are putting up eye-watering sums of money to host these events.
This is serious cash we are talking about. We have already had the ‘Battle of the Baddest’, the crossover boxing match between Fury and Francis Ngannou. The latter has since confirmed he made more from that fight alone than he earned throughout his entire UFC career.
There was concern and scepticism initially when the Saudis started to focus on boxing. However with HBO and Showtime now gone, one can’t help wonder what the sport might look like in the future without Riyadh Season. Especially if it holds the key to making superfights like Fury v Usyk and Wilder v AJ?
Critics will simply argue this is more sportswashing as Saudi Arabia tries once again to distract from its human rights record, but money talks and Riyadh is fast replacing Las Vegas as the boxing capital of the world. Whether that is a good thing or not for the long-term future of the sport, only time will tell.
It should be a night of high drama. Any bomb-proof Accas for those who like a punt?
Joshua is a general 1/4 shout to beat Wallin and Wilder is a top-priced 1/5 to come through against Parker, so unless you have Saudi riches you are not going to pay for Christmas by backing that particular win double!
Wallin is a really solid guy, and he gave Fury a real fright in 2019 before losing on points. Indeed ‘The Gypsy King’ required 47 stitches to a cut above the right eye following their Las Vegas showdown. Wallin went to Turkey last time out to outpoint the powerful Murat Gassiev.
Joshua by decision in a double with Dubois to prevail by KO, TKO or Disqualification against Miller is paying more than 4/1 right now and looks tempting.
