Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin press conference: Live news and updates with ‘Day of Reckoning’ bumper card featuring Deontay Wilder and Dimitry Bivol officially confirmed

‘I’m going to chop that tree down,’ Dubois says in response, before Miller turns the air blue in response.

‘He was scared to fight Joseph Parker, so he thought because I’m inactive, he’s going to fight a big guy like me.

‘But I’m going to hit him with everything and the kitchen sink’.

Dubois is ice cool, and just says ‘bring it on’.

‘Gonna make him pay for it?’ Warren says, trying to trick him out of being PG-13. He can’t touch Miller for creative metaphor, so I think he’s safest.

Miller goes for Joshua, and AJ tells him to ‘shut the f*** up’, but Miller continues to goad.

Dubois, looking sharp in black tie, is told by his promoter that he’s got to ‘go out and show everyone what he’s about’.

‘He cannot afford to slip up,’ Warren warns, before Miller takes to the mic.

‘Thank you Daniel Dubois for being the dummy to sign the country, because I’m going to beat your ass.

‘I’m going in there and I’m going to rip his head off.’

Miller says that Dubois has ‘that b**** in him’ and that he’s going to send him into ‘early retirement’.

De Mori wastes no time cutting through the pleasantries as he announces: ‘Any human being I fight, I’m going to rupture his spleen.

‘I’m very aware he’s a good, strong fighter. But I’m going to try, and try and win in those first four rounds.

‘None of us want to be accountants or librarians. We love the money, but we love to fight.

‘I want to let me hands fly.’

Hrgovic more subtly says he’s glad that his opponent is ‘excited’.

He’ll get a crack at the world title if he wins the fight – and Warren calls the match-up ‘very interesting’.

On the choice of Arthur as his opponent: ‘For this moment, I think this is the best opponent for me in the light heavyweight division.

‘I know that he has good boxing skills, he is disciplined, and he’s the IBO world champion.

‘I just want go to the ring and show Dmitry Bivol. I want to make a good fight, and I want to move forward to my goal.’

‘Kind of came out of nowhere, but this is boxing, and this is what happens in boxing, so you have to take these opportunities when they come.

‘Everyone knows how good Bivol is, it’s no secret. But I have to do what I have to. I have to come in and upset the plans he has.’

‘This is arguably the best cruiserweight in the world, so I’ve got to be on my A-game,’ Zorro says of facing his opponent Opetaia, but he sounds confident.

‘Haven’t really seen any loopholes in him yet, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any.’

Opetaia says he’s ‘so grateful’ to be here, but the other half of him ‘deserves to be here’.

‘We just gotta prepare how we prepare. Get in those trenches, train hard, and anyone that’s in front of me, we’ve got to beat’.

Opetaia also shares that he might be sparring with Fury as part of his camp ahead of Usyk, but he’s solely focused on December 23 first.

‘Collaboration. We all want the sport of boxing to grow. We’re competitive, but we also want the best opportunities for our fighters.’

He’s representing Joshua, Opetaia, and Bivol.

Hearn also thinks this could be the greatest card ever.

On Opetaia: ‘If you haven’t seen him fight yet, tune in. This kid is very special.’

Makhmudov also couldn’t make it to Wembley, but his opponent says he’s ‘happy and ready’ to take up the mantel.

‘I watched the fight,’ Kabayel says of the Russian’s dispatching of Wright in Riyadh. ‘He’s a very good opponent, a very good aggressive fight. I hope (our fight) is two very good, tough guys’.

His opponent, Sanchez, can’t be here, but Fa is overjoyed to speak.

‘This is a great, great opportunity to showcase my skills.

‘I’m here to steal the night’.

‘What’s up bro? Train hard, I’ll see you December 23rd.’

All pleasantries thus far.

‘It was (an awful lot of hard work)’, Warren admits, before thanking the event’s hosts.

He also thanks ‘The Gypsy King’ for opening the door to the event following ‘Battle of the Baddest’ – although he may have also not have felt like thanking him before the ‘Day of Reckoning’ came about…

‘We’re doing it for the fans!’ Warren proclaims. ‘It’s all thanks to this man (pointing at Turki Alalshikh). He has made this happen’.

He’s handed a faulty mic to make his address, but we can assume discussing the excitement around the hastily-organised fight, the value of bringing the ‘Day of Reckoning’ to Saudi.

‘I thank all the 12 promoters who are with us today for everything, and I’m happy to be here. Help us to deliver to the market good fights, because I’m a fan, and we’re all fans around the world,’ he finishes, the volume finally kicking in.

…and stuffed with fighters and their assorted promoters. Whilst everyone files out to take their seats, we’re treated to a hot mic moment from Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel talking about his home on New York’s Upper East Side.

Joshua is one of the last to emerge, dressed for the cold in a grey tracksuit and beanie, and followed by Wilder.

Saudi have been able to organise nearly everything at pace, but they can’t get Fa to make his cue.

Instead, it’s Kabayel who makes his way to the stage first.

First up, Junior Fa will lead the fighters out.

Deontay Wilder versus Joseph Parker

Anthony Joshua versus Otto Wallin

Dmitry Bivol versus Lyndon Arthur

Filip Hrgovic versus Mark De Mori

Jai Opetaia versus Ellis Zorro

Arslanbek Makhmudov versus Kabayel

Frank Sanchez versus Junior Fa

The Russian heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov is back on the card and will fight Ageit Kabayel, after making extremely light work of Junior Anthony Wright in Riyadh – finishing him off in just one round as part of the Fury-Ngannou undercard.

But for all his force, Wardley says, his persona out of the ring couldn’t be more different.

‘When you speak to him, he’s nice as pie!’ Wardley shared.

‘We’re talking about conversations that came together TEN DAYS ago’, Hearn shares.

No wasting time in the Kingdom…

He’s fighting Dmitry Bivol, who will be heavily favoured. He says he only got the nod ‘three or four days ago’.

‘It’s a win-win,’ Arthur added. ‘I go in there and beat Bivol, and I change my life for years and years.’

‘It has (been a quick turnaround). But everyone has worked very hard to make it happen. His Excellency (Turki Alalshikh), our team at Queensberry

‘It was pulled together very efficiently. Here we are. It’s a great event.

It”s the vision of his Excellency that’s made it happen. It’s his vision, and once we got the go ahead, we got it together. All these fighters, it’s a tremendous opportunity.

‘The big prize at the end will be Fury and Usyk, and the winner of this will want to be facing one of them.

‘It’s a great time for boxing, because the fans are getting what they’re always asking for, which is big fights.’

On the speed at which the card has come together: ‘I think the Saudis are full of surprises and if they want something done, they get it.

‘I think we never thought we’d see these names on the card together, and then to get it done so quickly – it’s a nice little treat before Christmas.’

On whether he considered taking part: ‘I think I enjoy Christmas a little bit too much! I like a mince pie.’

Heavyweight boxing has become ’embarrassing’ after a number of top fighters failed to secure highly-anticipated bouts – while others have been ‘greedy’ in pursuit of a bigger purse, Mail Sport’s Charlotte Daly has told The Hook.

We’ve also had a year that has seen Anthony Joshua’s fight against Dillian Whyte collapse on fight week and Wilder’s talks with Andy Ruiz collapse having failed to come to an agreement.

Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Dmitry Bivol, Daniel Dubois, and more, and more, and more…

December 23 may not play host to the much-anticipated Fury-Usyk clash – but there’s no shortage of firepower on the card.

Less than half-an-hour to go until we hear from the fighters themselves.

December 23 – the ‘Day of Reckoning’!

The fighter, who holds a professional record of 26-1-1, had some harsh words for the two top stars in the division.

If not, you’re in for a treat – Mail Sport’s experts Charlotte Daly and Alex McCarthy run the rule over the boxing landscape in a weekly look at all of the sport’s biggest news.

There’s also exclusive access and a plethora of interviews – this week, Charlotte spoke to aspiring world champion Adam Azim.

Have a listen to that – and more – by clicking HERE.

Hearn, AJ’s promoter, spilled the beans on how top trainer Ben Davison has crossed camps between the British heavyweights.

Davison lived with Fury for 14 months as he fought mental demons, helped him lose 100 pounds and return to the ring in 2018, and drilled him to within a couple of scorecards of the WBC title against Deontay Wilder.

Francis Ngannou has been ranked in the top ten of the WBC’s heavyweight rankings after just his first fight in professional boxing.

The Cameroonian put in an incredible performance to shock Tyson Fury in their ‘Battle of the Baddest’ clash in Saudi Arabia last month – knocking the WBC champion to the canvas in the third round – but ultimately lost on a split decision.

However, many punters and boxing experts believe he did enough to beat the Gypsy King across the 10 round contest and the Cameroonian still emerged with massive credit after his surprising performance on his first foray into the sport.

Anthony Joshua’s fight date against Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia is set to be announced in a press conference on Wednesday.

Both Joshua and Eddie Hearn met with Saudi boxing boss Turki Alalshikh on Monday, but as of 6pm yesterday evening no contract had been signed by the former heavyweight champion.

There were also several other fighters who had not signed their contract too, meaning the planned press conference on Wednesday was at risk of being pushed back.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of Anthony Joshua’s press conference ahead of his upcoming clash with Otto Wallin.

We’ll be kicking things off at 6pm, but we’ll be bringing you all the relevant news in the build-up to what should be an excitng anouncement about the pair’s fight date.