Anthony Joshua earns bittersweet win over Otto Wallin after Deontay Wilder’s costly failure

For Anthony Joshua, this was a strange, bittersweet victory.

The sweetness was contained in the controlled aggression that “AJ” accessed across five rounds against Otto Wallin, in the intelligent, improved way in which he closed distance against a southpaw, and in the ease of this first fight under Ben Davison. That sweetness also came courtesy of Joshua’s ability to outperform and overshadow Deontay Wilder, whose failure against Joseph Parker was a costly one, just minutes before AJ dismissed Wallin.

The bitterness, however, was brought about by Wilder’s failure itself, one that might have and generational wealth.