Otto Wallin ‘confident’ of beating Anthony Joshua on ‘Day of Reckoning’ – ‘He has a lot of pressure’

Otto Wallin is feeling “confident” ahead of his heavyweight encounter against Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The bout between Joshua and Wallin will be the co-main event at the Kingdom Arena on Saturday, alongside a fight between Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker.

Indeed, the Swedish boxer has backed himself to pull off an upset, expressing his confidence when asked whether he had a genuine belief he could beat his opponent.

“It shouldn’t even be a question,” he told TNT Sports. “Of course I’m confident, otherwise I wouldn’t take this fight.

“I feel like I’ve shown in the past that I’m a good fighter. I gave Fury a very good fight, and I take pride in my work.

“I’ve been working very hard to come to this place where I’m at now, and I’m just here ready to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

Wallin also claimed there was “no question” it was the best possible time to take on Joshua.

“I think, one, he hasn’t really looked the same, and I’ve gotten better,” he said.

“So I’ve worked very hard over the years to get to this place, so I feel like I’m getting better all the time. And I’m not sure that he is.”

If Joshua and Wilder defeat their respective opponents, it could set up a long-awaited clash between the pair in 2024.

Wallin suggested the conversations around future fights could be a distraction for Joshua.

“I think it’s all good that other people are being mentioned,” he said. “I said that I don’t have any pressure – I feel like he has a lot of pressure.

“He has to look good in this fight to go on and fight Wilder. He’s probably very focused on me, but there’s also other guys messing with him. So I think that’s just good for me.”

Joshua appeared to be completely focused on the fight ahead as he gave a series of terse answers in his interview.

“Correct,” he replied when asked if he had fully entered fight mode, before expanding more on the preparation leading up to Saturday night.

“The process gets better,” he said. “You learn more, lock in to the fight, and just focus fully.”

On Saturday 23 December, fight fans will witness boxing’s greatest champions, head-to-head in what promises to be an action-filled night of entertainment, as part of Riyadh Season. In a UK broadcast first “Day of Reckoning” will be available live on both DAZN and TNT Sports Box Office for fans to watch in the UK and Ireland.

You do not need to be a subscriber to buy this event and more information on all the ways you can watch can be found at

DAZN customers can purchase the fight on or via the DAZN app, accessed on their Smart TVs, streaming sticks, laptop, tablets, mobiles and games consoles.

Sky customers can purchase on channel 494 via their remote control or via

Virgin Media TV customers in the UK: customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View Events rail.

EE TV customers can go to channel 495 and pay using their remote control.

Customers in the Republic of Ireland can purchase via the DAZN app or through TNT Sports Box Office via Sky at – €29.99 or €34.99 (on the day).