Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been in discussions with Otto Wallin despite promising Dillian Whyte a shot at AJ next. Wallin has previously been mentioned as a backup opponent by Hearn and it appears that talks have been held with the Swede’s representatives.
According to Wallin’s promoter Dmitry Salita, he met with Hearn last week to pitch for his client.”I had discussions with Eddie about Otto for a significant amount of time and as late as last week,” he told The Sun.
“From what I understand it’s really up to AJ. I believe he wants to place himself back in the heavyweight picture. Both Otto and AJ want a shot at Fury. By the numbers, Otto landed more punches on Fury than anyone else ever.
“I believe the winner of that fight will have a legitimate claim to challenge Fury probably after his fight with Oleksandr Usyk.”
“Whyte is 1-2 and in reality, 1-3 in his last four fights. Both Otto and AJ want a shot at Fury. By the numbers Otto landed more punches on Fury than anyone else ever,” Salita added.
“A fight with Joshua would be something like Roy Jones vs Mike Tyson or Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor, big names but not much behind it at this point. Even if it’s not against Jermaine, Whyte needs an impressive showing against someone credible to show that he still got the skills to pay the bills at an elite heavyweight level.
“Otto Wallin on the other hand gave Tyson Fury the hardest fight of his career, landing more punches than Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder put together. “He had four wins after that including Dominic Breazeale and Travis Kauffman, both credible at time of his victory.
“Otto is No3 in the WBO and is a bonafide top heavyweight in the world. There have been lots of big names thrown around with Joshua including Tyson and Wilder. How serious that is will depend on who he fights next.”