Swedish heavyweight contender Otto Wallin said Anthony Joshua was ‘past his peak’ before their fight, but was taught a quick lesson when the Brit turned up as good as he has looked in some time.

Joshua dominated from the opening bell, picking his shots with tremendous precision and measured aggression, forcing Wallin to retire on his stool with blood around his nose following the fifth-round. It was ‘AJ’s a first back-to-back knockout win since 2017.

In an interview with Boxing News, Wallin cleared up news of his injury and showed support for his trainer, Joey Gamache, who made the decision to pull him out of the contest.

Joshua’s win seems to have lined him up for a fight with Filip Hrgovic and a possible IBF Vacant Title as he seeks to become just the fifth three-time heavyweight champion of all-time.

Wallin, at 33 and with losses to just Joshua and Tyson Fury, will take stock and come back this year.

Swedish heavyweight Otto Wallin has taken his punishing loss to Anthony Joshua squarely on the chin.

The New York-based southpaw refused to offer any alibis for his performance against the former heavyweight champion from London when they met last week in the main event of a card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Joshua dominated from the opening bell, forcing a stoppage of Wallin after five rounds of their scheduled 12-rounder. Wallin’s corner, recognizing their fighter was already badly bloodied and bruised, threw in the towel after the conclusion of the fifth round.

Wallin had offered a confident front heading into the fight, saying that Joshua had lost his confidence in recent years and that he was susceptible to southpaws.

In a recent interview, Wallin acknowledged that Joshua was simply the better fighter and wondered if his first-time stint under trainer Ben Davison was a large factor in that.

“I really have no excuses,” Wallin told Boxing News. “He was just better, I think. He did really well. He used his reach well. He hit me with some really good shots. Yeah, he was just better, I think.

“He hit me with some good body shots. I’m always ready for that, but I think they had a good game plan. I think maybe, I haven’t watched the fight, but … it was a much tougher fight than the one I had with Fury. He did really well. Maybe he has found his home with Ben Davison, I don’t know.”

“I was confident going into the fight, thought that I had a really good chance of winning, but he did a really, really good job, AJ,” Wallin added.

Wallin said he did not disagree with his coach’s decision to stop the fight. Wallin is trained by former two-divisoin champion Joey Gamache.

“I didn’t disagree with him,” Wallin said. “Joey told me that he’s going to stop it and I didn’t say anything. Joey’s been with me for 10 years. He has seen me training, seen me in almost all my fights. He has never pulled me out of anything. I trust Joey. He is always looking out for me. And I feel very happy that I have a trainer that puts my health first. There’s a life after boxing.

“So I’m really appreciative that he’s looking out for me. If you’re a trainer and you see your guy out there when he comes back and looks worse in the corner—I haven’t watched the fight but I trust Joey.”

Anthony Joshua has revealed that he is in Saudi Arabia to win ahead of his heavyweight bout with Otto Wallin.

The two boxers will lock horns at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on Saturday and Joshua was in no mood to mince word in the press conference ahead of the clash.

Joshua said: “I want to fight. I want to perform well. Put that pressure on myself.”

Joshua appeared not to be in the mood to allow any distractions in Riyadh on Saturday.

“I’m here to fight, I’m not here to party and get caught up in the glitz and glamour,” Joshua said.

“Of course I’m tense because I want to perform, I want to win. I’ve got that urge to win and I want to hurt my opponent as well.”

Joshua added: “I can definitely window shop, I know where I’m going in my life. If I don’t get past this there is no future.”

“My first stop to getting to be three-time champion is putting in a demolishing against [Otto].

“I’m fully focused on this fight, I’m determined to win, and I’m determined to get back to my peak, if that’s what they want to call it.”

Wallin is also confident of pulling off an upset against Joshua.

“It shouldn’t even be a question,” he told TNT Sports. “Of course I’m confident, otherwise I wouldn’t take this fight.

“I feel like I’ve shown in the past that I’m a good fighter. I gave Fury a very good fight, and I take pride in my work.

“I’ve been working very hard to come to this place where I’m at now, and I’m just here ready to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

“I think he feels that he’s vulnerable…he knows that he can lose, and I feel like he’s fighting now not to lose, instead of fighting to win.”

Wallin’s only defeat came against Tyson Fury in Las Vegas in 2019.

Anthony Joshua’s last fight was in August whe he knocked out Robert Helenius in the seventh round.

There will be another new face in Anthony Joshua’s corner when he takes on Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia on 23 December.

After years standing alongside Rob McCracken, the two-time heavyweight champion has made changes to his team since losing his titles to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021. Robert Garcia was brought into the camp for the rematch but after Joshua came up short again against the undefeated Ukrainian, that partnership came to an end.

This year, Joshua linked up with Derrick James, the experienced American who also counts Errol Spence Jr, Jermell Charlo and Ryan Garcia among his stable of fighters.

Relocating his fight camps to Texas where James is based, Joshua got back to winning ways under his guidance, securing a points win over Jermaine Franklin in April before his vicious knockout victory over Robert Helenius in August.

With his pre-Christmas showdown with Wallin announced just six weeks before fight night, Joshua has remained in the UK to work in camp with Ben Davison, who he has been working with over the last few months, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn. While Joshua recently opted not to discuss the situation, Davison will reportedly be in his corner on the night.

Davison counts Tyson Fury, Billy Joe Saunders and Josh Taylor as the world champions he has worked with in the past with Leigh Wood – who vacated his featherweight title to move up in weight last month – part of his current stable.

He also has intimate knowledge of Joshua’s opponent Wallin, having been in Fury’s corner the night he fought the Swede four years ago in Las Vegas.

It has been reported James remains Joshua’s head trainer, with the arrangement with Davison a one-time deal brought on by logistical issues around the fight.

Viddal Riley, the reigning English cruiserweight champion, has first-hand knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes to prepare a fighter having trained YouTube stars KSI and AnEsonGib before shifting focus back to his own burgeoning career.

The Hackney fighter developed close connections with the men he put through their paces, believing Joshua and Davison can develop a similar understanding providing the latter can ‘get through’ to the former heavyweight champion.

‘It is an experiment,’ Riley told Metro.co.uk. ‘There is a lot on the line so it gets a lot of attention so people like to throw in their non expert views which they are entitled to do. Buts it is an experiment.

‘He could be a great coach for someone else and not be a good coach for Anthony Joshua. But then he could be great for AJ. Ben is a proven coach. At the end of the day, it is down to their personal communication and methods of teaching.

‘We can’t say Ben is a bad trainer or he is not qualified for the job because he is has shown he is, he has trained multiple world champions over multiple divisions. But can he get through to AJ? Only they and the people who are in the gym and around them will know that. Hopefully they can.

Viddal believes the fighter-trainer dynamic is the same for any athlete in sport looking of guidance and instruction. It applies no more so than in football where he likens the situation to that of former Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, one of the game’s most celebrated coaches who hasn’t always found perfect harmony with his players.

‘That’s what every athlete is seeking, a coach who can get through to them,’ he continued. ‘A coach who can make the difference. It is not based on accolades. Jose Mourinho is a very accomplished manager but with certain teams, he can’t make it happen.

‘It doesn’t mean he is a bad manager, it just means he couldn’t connect with that group of players. It is all about communication and connection. So if he [Davison] has that relationship and AJ can absorb what Ben is saying like a sponge and they get on well, then I think we see a great outcome in December.

‘Finding the right coach can be as simple as finding the right pair of trainers. It is just the public eye is on it. It is hard to keep things under wraps because everything is just gossip. It isn’t fair, but it is part of the process and part of being a world class athlete. People care and that is the reason [these fighters] are in this position.’