Swedish heavyweight, Otto Wallin, was in talks to face Anthony Joshua before the Brit finally settled on Jermaine Franklin for his comeback fight.
Wallin famously fought Tyson Fury, back in 2019, and took him the distance in a bloody affair, with Fury subsequently requiring forty-seven stitches to a cut above his eye.
That night gave Wallin respect as a solid heavyweight but has still struggled to secure fights against the bigger names of the division. Dillian Whyte was scheduled to fight the Swede in 2021 but pulled out at late notice due to a shoulder injury.
In an interview with iFL TV the 25-1 fighter spoke of why the Joshua opportunity also lead to nothing.
“I am a southpaw, Joshua just came off of two losses against Usyk, who is a southpaw also. Not just that, I think people are aware of me, they know that I am not a bad fighter, I am a good fighter, I gave Fury everything that he could handle. It would be a tough fight for Joshua, it’s not an easy win or anything. I think they’re looking to have someone now to make Joshua look good on his comeback and probably get a knockout. It didn’t make sense for them to fight me right now, I am too much of a risk.
Franklin gave Dillian Whyte all that he could handle, I feel like he [Franklin] won that fight, so now he gets a shot at Joshua. Anthony Joshua will be a clear favourite for me, to win by knockout, but we will see what Jermaine does, I think he is a fighter that has some skills and ability, so we will see what happens.”
Joshua will face Franklin on April 1st at the O2 Arena in London and will see the former two-time champion make his DAZN debut. Although the card will not be pay-per-view, a recent price hike for the cost of DAZN subscriptions has caused some backlash.