Eddie Hearn has expressed how one of Anthony Joshua’s knockout victories over a world-level opponent was ‘underrated.’
Anthony Joshua is almost one week away from fighting Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in front of a record-breaking 96,000 fans for the IBF World Heavyweight Title.
Since suffering back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, Joshua’s career has been revitalised with four consecutive wins, including three knockouts in his last three fights.
Following his link-up with trainer Ben Davison, many believe Joshua is back to his destructive best.
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Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua deserves more credit for beating Otto Wallin
Despite knocking out Francis Ngannou in two rounds last March and beating the former UFC champion in better fashion than rival Tyson Fury, Eddie Hearn has claimed that Joshua’s win over Otto Wallin has been overlooked.
Wallin gained the boxing public’s respect after going 12 rounds with Fury in 2019, famously cutting ‘The Gypsy King’ above his right eye, which required 47 stitches.
In contrast, ‘AJ’ made easy work of Wallin last December by dominating the Swede for five rounds and forcing a stoppage.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Hearn said: “I think the Otto Wallin win is a really underrated win. The guy just beat [Murat] Gassiev and he gave Fury fits.”
Is Anthony Joshua’s recent wins more impressive than Daniel Dubois’?
Both Joshua and Dubois are on winning streaks heading into the biggest fight of their careers.
‘AJ’ has registered victories over Jermaine Franklin Jr, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.
Meanwhile, Dubois has bounced back from his knockout loss to Usyk last year in Poland with two knockout wins in a row against Jarrell Miller and then Filip Hrgovic.
Some would argue Hrgovic is a better triumph for Dubois than any of Joshua’s opponents in the last two years.
The Croatian was seen as a dark horse in the heavyweight division before Dubois stopped him in eight rounds.
However, Joshua’s demolition of Ngannou might also be underrated, especially as many believe Ngannou did enough to beat Fury on the Battle of the Baddest card in Riyadh.