Anthony Joshua has reportedly agreed to fight Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia on 23 December with Deontay Wilder set to face off with Joseph Parker on the same night.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk were set to meet in their historic undisputed heavyweight title fight on that date in Riyadh. But ‘The Gypsy King’s bruising night at the office against Francis Ngannou last month has seen that date pushed back to February.
Boxing officials in Saudi have decided the show will go on however and are in the process of assembling a huge night of boxing for that night just before Christmas.
Both Joshua and Wilder are ‘working to finish deals’ with Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, the man most responsible for bringing Fury and Ngannou together last month.
While the plan is for the heavyweight rivals to face each other in 2024, the December card will have them in action in separate fights.
Should those deals be finalised this week, two-time heavyweight champion Joshua will take on Wallin in the main event, Dan Rafael reports.
The Swedish southpaw has won 26 of his 28 professional fights with his only blemish coming against Fury in 2019.
Wallin turned in an impressive display that night, opening a large cut above Fury’s eye with a well-timed right hand before falling to a decision defeat.
Wilder meanwhile would take on former WBO champion Parker in the co-main event. The American has fought just one round of boxing in two years, knocking out Robert Helenius inside three minutes in October last year – his first and only fight since his trilogy defeat to Fury.
Parker meanwhile has rattled off three victories in 2023, part of the Fury vs Ngannou undercard last month where he knocked out Simon Kean in three rounds.
Talks are also underway for British heavyweight Daniel Dubois to join the card. A deal for the Londoner, who fell short in his world title fight against Usyk in August, to fight Jarell Miller is currently in the works.
Miller infamously failed a string of drug tests that saw him 2019 showdown with Joshua scrapped.
Other heavyweight fighters who could be involved in the card are Filip Hrgovic, Arslanbek Makhmudov, Frank Sanchez and Junior Fa. Light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, who is still to fight in 2023 is expected to be involved, as could cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.