Eddie Hearn thinks that Anthony Joshua should beat Otto Wallin, but one thing is standing in his way.
Joshua meets Wallin - the fighter who gave Tyson Fury arguably his toughest fight until Francis Ngannou - on December 23 at the Day of Reckoning in Saudi Arabia, live on DAZN PPV.
The fight could pave the way for a clash with Deontay Wilder in 2024, and potential a title fight or title eliminator, depending on the fallout from the expected undisputed clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in February.
Wallin is an experienced fighter in his own right, and Joshua is a two-time world champion, and speaking to Fight Hub TV, Hearn thinks Wallin’s southpaw stance will be a challenge.
“When we say he has an issue with a southpaw, he had an issue with Oleksandr Usyk, you know, who is a pound-for-pound, maybe number one,” he began.
“But Wallin’s good. They’ve sparred rounds before. AJ beat him in the amateurs—it’s a long time ago, yeah, but really, ideally, you don’t really want to be fighting a southpaw, but you should be dealing with Otto Walliin.”
He backed his fighter to win, though, adding: “We have enough faith in AJ’s ability to take that fight, win that fight. But it will be tricky. And he has to be aggressive in that fight. I believe he will stop him.”