Drama and hubris, those familiar staples of boxing, returned to the ring in Riyadh when the heavily favoured Deontay Wilder lost his heavyweight contest against Joseph Parker. In an embarrassingly one-sided fight, with Wilder looking a shell of his former self as his technical flaws were accentuated more graphically than ever before, Parker boxed with composure and belief to receive the unanimous verdict by overwhelming margins of 118-111, 118-110 and 120-108.
The grand plans of Saudi Arabia and some of boxing’s most famous promoters have been ruined for this was meant to be the last remaining obstacle in Wilder’s path before he sealed an immensely lucrative fight against Anthony Joshua in Riyadh next March. Joshua kept his side of the deal when, in a contrasting performance of controlled brutality and mean intent, he beat up and outclassed Otto Wallin before the trainers of the disconsolate Swedish heavyweight waved the fight over at the end of the fifth round.
An impressive display by Joshua, however, would have earned him even more plaudits had Wilder, rather than Wallin, been in the opposite corner. There could be little doubt that Joshua would have added the far more illustrious name of the American to his resume had their heavily anticipated fight not been pushed back to March. But the arrogant assumption that Wilder and Joshua would both prevail, and earn even more money for everyone in the process, was shredded by the admirable and much improved Parker.
Wilder had walked to the ring with a heavy gold crown on his head as if he was already the supreme fighter of the night. Yet he barely threw a punch in the first round as he took a long and circumspect look at Parker who had previously won a version of the world title. Parker was marginally more aggressive, fighting on the front foot, in the opening couple of rounds and his trainer, Andy Lee, urged him to take more risks. Lee stressed to his fighter that he could knock out Wilder if he backed him up against the ropes. But Parker knew he needed to retain resolute concentration as Wilder, more than any other heavyweight in the world, has the capacity to score a chilling one-punch knockout at any time.
In the fourth round Parker attempted to follow Lee’s advice and, with Wilder pinned against the ropes, he let his hands go in a brief flurry. He nailed Wilder more effectively with an overhand right close to the end of the round and, momentarily, it looked as if the American was unsteady on his long, spindly legs. Midway through the fifth Parker again landed a solid blow as Wilder struggled with his timing after boxing just a single round since he lost to Tyson Fury in an epic fight in October 2021. That savage trilogy against Fury, who knocked him out twice, had clearly been damaging for Wilder.
Wilder shaded the sixth round but he was far behind on the scorecards as they moved into the second half of a strangely lopsided bout. He was clearly hoping to detonate a huge right which would knock Parker cold. But the best punch of the round again came from Parker.
Wilder finally caught Parker with a heavy blow in the eighth but the New Zealander absorbed the impact. A minute later Parker unleashed a ferocious barrage of punches – beginning with a huge right hand which rocked Wilder. Parker followed up and Wilder reeled against the ropes. It was a bold yet assured attack which showed the belief coursing through him as the bell sounded to the relief of Wilder.
It took most of the ninth round for a passive Wilder to gather himself because he again hardly threw a meaningful punch. In the final 30 seconds he at last looked to have cleared his head and, on the bell, he landed his best right hand of the night. Parker remained alert and calm as the fight approached its conclusion. Wilder won round 10 but he was in dire need of a trademark knockout.
He swung desperate punches in the last round, finally finding the urgency which had been missing throughout his woeful performance. But, once again, the hardest punch which landed came from Parker. Wilder raised his fist in the air at the end but deep down, he knew that he had lost badly.
Twenty minutes later, just before 2.30am in Riyadh, Joshua and Wallin finally entered the ring. Joshua, looking crisp and focused, started much more positively than he had done in recent fights. His left jab looked fluid and he went both to the body and head with his heavier right hand as Wallin was tentative against the former world champion. The Swedish heavyweight began to bleed from his nose midway through the second round as Joshua’s clubbing punches took their immediate toll. Now trained by Ben Davison, who used to work in Fury’s corner, Joshua cut a different figure to the cautious fighter he had been in his two previous bouts this year.
Wallin had performed creditably against Fury in 2019 but he is a relatively limited boxer whose southpaw stance is his only distinguishing feature. He again failed to test Joshua in the next two rounds as the British fighter dominated in methodical fashion. Wallin took in great big gulps of breath as he returned to his corner, looking lost and weary, at the end of round four.
He was badly hurt in the fifth as the combination of a crunching right cross and left hook landed with brutal consequences. Wallin was shaken to the core and he had to withstand much more punishment before the bell brought him merciful respite. The beating administered by Joshua was certain to lead to a knockout but Wallin’s corner made the wise decision to end the fight soon after he sank down on his stool with his face cut, bruised, swollen and forlorn. Joshua’s victory had been his most impressive performance in years – but it should be reiterated that Wallin is nowhere near the calibre of Fury, Oleksandr Usyk or even Parker.
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Having lost his world titles to Usyk, who beat him in successive bouts in 2021 and 2022, Joshua has been in the slow process of rebuilding his career. He can look forward to 2024 – and the hope that he will eventually fight the winner of February’s world title unification bout between Fury and Usyk which will again be held in Riyadh.
Eddie Hearn, his promoter, is again calling him the best heavyweight in the world. Yet, now that his showdown against Wilder will be abandoned, Joshua will need to prove that he can produce a performance of similar authority against far superior opposition to Wallin. Parker is the obvious next step but that potential rematch between the two men would again be a risk for Joshua.
In the ring afterwards Joshua remained calm as he described boxing as “a treacherous business”. Wilder will understand the painful truth of those words as his explosive if deeply flawed career is surely much closer now to a sad ending.
