More on Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder Dec. 23 card in Saudi Arabia
Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder will reportedly co-headline a big show on Dec. 23 in Saudi Arabia, a date originally being held for Fury vs Usyk (which will now take place on Feb. 17), and more information about the card is starting to filter out.
In short, it looks like it will be a heavyweight bonanza in Riyadh. Along with Joshua vs Otto Wallin and Wilder vs Joseph Parker, Mike Coppinger of ESPN.com reports two more big boy clashes for the show.
Daniel Dubois (19-2, 18 KO) will look to bounce back from his controversy-creating loss to Oleksandr Usyk in August by facing Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (26-0-1, 22 KO), who will pretty much be looking to force his way back into the mix in the division.
“Big Baby” has won three in a row since his return, last fighting on Mar. 18, where he stopped Lucas Browne in the sixth round of what really was an entertaining slugfest in Dubai. He’s a controversial figure in the sport at best.
The other fight would see Frank Sanchez (23-0, 16 KO) take on Junior Fa (20-2, 11 KO). Cuba’s Sanchez, 31, has been sitting at the same level for far too long, and other than a pretty good win over Efe Ajagba in 2021, his matchmaking has been extremely lackluster.
Fa, 34, won’t exactly be the contender people want to see Sanchez face, but at least it’s a better matchup than Scott Alexander or Daniel Martz. Fa lost a 12-round decision to Joseph Parker in early 2021, and 16 months later returned for a shocking TKO-1 loss to Lucas Browne in Melbourne.
There wasn’t anything more on Dmitry Bivol featuring on the card, but that could still be in the works. Prior reports have said Bivol (21-0, 11 KO) would defend his WBA light heavyweight title against Richard Rivera (25-1, 19 KO). Bivol, 32, hasn’t fought in just over a year.
