Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua had a big 2023.
After suffering back to back defeats at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua came back to rack up three victories this year. It marked the first time since 2016 where Joshua had three fights in a single year.
Joshua started off the year in April, with a twelve round unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin. He came back in August to secure a seventh round knockout of late replacement Robert Helenius.
And then last Saturday in Saudi Arabia, Joshua wiped out Otto Wallin in five rounds of action.
After last weekend’s fight was over, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, proclaimed that his boxer “was back” to being a dominant heavyweight force.
Former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis is not convinced, at least when examining Joshua’s most recent win, because the Hall of Famer felt Wallin was ill-prepared for the fight.
“I couldn’t really judge with this fight if he’s back or not. He definitely looked good, he did what he was supposed to do. Taking out a guy he’s taken out before [in the amateurs],” Lewis told TNT Sports.
“The guy didn’t have any definition in his body. I don’t know if he worked hard or was in training camp or whatever, and I didn’t see him punching or throwing any punches that connected because AJ looked good after the fight, like a movie star, like he wasn’t even in a fight.
“So I think [the fight is] good for his mental state and everybody is saying ‘he’s back’, but there’s still a long road ahead. He still has to go up against Fury. [Zhilei] Zhang from China would be a great fight as well.”