It took former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua just five rounds to batter and defeat Sweden’s Otto Wallin on Saturday evening at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Riding on two successive wins earlier in the year, the two-time heavyweight champion came out smoking, raining punches on Wallin in a bout many saw as one-sided to record his third straight win of the year.
Joshua bloodied Wallin badly, forcing his corner to end the fight after the fifth round.
Though the bout was expected to be a very tough fight as it would lead to the former heavyweight champion fighting Deontay Wilder, AJ made it look simple – dominating and outpunching Wallin from the start of the game to round five when he was declared winner.
“My approach was victory by any means,” Joshua told DAZN’s Chris Mannix after the fight. “Every cell and soul needed to be on focus. I knew Otto Wallin wanted to do whatever it takes to be victorious.”
This year, AJ first defeated Jermaine Franklin in April, then went on to knock out Robert Helenius in the seventh round in August. His recent victories signal his potential to come back to being a champion someday.