Otto Wallin wants to fight Anthony Joshua next
Once-beaten heavyweight Otto Wallin reacted to Anthony Joshua’s defeat to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday, when speaking to OLBG Blogs.
The Swedish southpaw found AJ’s awkward post-match reaction difficult to watch, stating, "It was hard to watch, to be honest. I think it’s a culmination of pressure on him and I think that it’s affecting him a lot mentally. He did a similar thing when he lost to Ruiz and took the mic from him. It’s like he’s so used to being the champion, so it’s hard when he’s not that anymore."
A former sparring partner of AJ's, the 31-year-old heavyweight from Sundsvall was impressed with the Brit's improvements to make the contest closer than the first, "It was a great fight and both guys stepped it up from last time. I was actually impressed with Joshua’s adjustments for this fight. I didn’t think he was going to be able to put up such a good performance against Usyk but he proved me and I’m sure a lot of other people wrong. Usyk really had to dig deep and he once again showed that he’s a brilliant fighter but we also saw that no one is untouchable."
The former EBU European Union heavyweight champion is currently ranked WBC #10 / IBF #12 / WBO #8 / IBO #13. After giving AJ's biggest rival one hell of a scare in their 2019 fight, Wallin believes he deserves his shot at Joshua next, "I think it makes a lot of sense for me and Joshua to fight each other. People in the UK know me for giving Fury one of his toughest fights in his career and I get a lot of support from over there. I’m always training and trying to get better and I can’t wait to go over to the UK and earn my right for another shot at Fury by beating Anthony Joshua."
There's also another reason why Wallin wants Josh – to complete a trilogy of fights between them and to get revenge.
Wallin has previously met Joshua in the ring twice before. As amateurs, they first clashed in the Haringey Box Cup in June 2010, which the Londoner won widely on points over three rounds, then they met again just seven months later in Sweden where AJ inflicted another unanimous decision defeat.
"I honestly believe it would be a war," Wallin predicted. "We had two wars in the amateurs where he got the decisions in both fights that could’ve gone either way. We also sparred 150+ rounds before he fought Charles Martin and even though it was sparring, nobody wanted to give an inch."
His promoter, Dmitry Salita, also shared the same sentiments earlier today, "Based on this performance it looks like Anthony Joshua has got a lot of big fights left. The one that makes the most sense as the next one is Otto Wallin. Especially if Tyson fights Usyk in December. Joshua did a great job, he is still improving as a fighter. Looks like Robert Garcia and the rest of the team helped breathe new life into him."
Salita also reasons that Wallin's performance against Fury was the hardest fight of the Morecombe man's career, which is why he is campaigning for a replay, "Otto gave Tyson Fury the hardest fight of his career. Landed more punches than Wladimir Klitschko and the first Wilder fight put together. Otto has gotten better and has had four wins since that match. If Tyson is fighting Usyk in December and Joshua wants to show that he belongs in that elite conversation, there is no better measuring stick for both objectively than Otto Wallin. Otto wants another shot at Tyson and to get to Tyson seems to be that both need each other."
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