Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin fight confirmed as date announced for Saudi bout

Anthony Joshua 's next fight against Otto Wallin will take place on December 23 after the pair's bout was finally confirmed.

The two-time former unified world heavyweight champion will take on the Swede in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh late next month. Joshua had been widely expected to be taking on Wallin in his next appearance after beating Robert Helenius at the 02 earlier this year.

Joshua's long-time rival at the top of the heavyweight division, Deontay Wilder, will also be on the card. However, hopes of a super-fight at the end of this year have long been dashed, with Wilder instead taking on former world champ Joseph Parker.

The card, that will take place at the Kingdom Arena, is on the same date as the long-awaited meeting between Tyson Fury and Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk had been scheduled for, with that fight being pushed back to February.

The latter heads into the bout with a record of 26-1, with 14 of his victories having been by knockout. He last took on Murat Gassiev in Turkey, a fight he won by split decision.

Joshua in the meantime took on Helenius back in August, winning via a seventh-round knockout. Ahead of his fight with Wallin, the 34-year-old has already teamed up with Tyson Fury's former trainer Ben Davison.

It'll be a one-off change of trainer, with the Brit's coach Derrick James approving the plan. Promoter Eddie Hearn has also revealed that he has been training at Davison's gym.

Make your predictions for Anthony Joshua's December fight with Otto Wallin in the comments below

"AJ is with Derrick James, 100 per cent," Hearn said last week. "But Ben is a fantastic coach, and I think that has the kind of mind that AJ would tick with.

"AJ is the kind of guy who doesn’t like to be out of camp for too long, and there is a chance he fights in December. So if that’s the case, he wanted these couple of weeks just to sharpen his tools before he heads into camp in Dallas with Derrick.

While Joshua's fight with Wallin will headline the 'Day of Reckoning' show in Riyadh, there are also a nnumber of other fights taking place. Deontay Wilder will take on Joseph Parker, with Joshua's British compatriot Daniel Dubois set to take on Jarrell Miller.

Dmitry Bivol will take on Lyndon Arthur, with Frank Sanchez also fighting Junior Fa.Filip Hrgovic will tackle Mark De Mori, withArslanbek Makhmudov andAgit Kabayel clashing. Finally, Jai Opetaia fights Ellis Zorro.

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