Anthony Joshua ready for 'blood and bruises' against Otto Wallin in 'Day of Reckoning' - 'I want to hurt him'

Anthony Joshua expects “blood and bruises” when he clashes with Otto Wallin in the ‘Day of Reckoning’ and says he “wants to hurt” the Swede in the ring.

The two heavyweights will go head-to-head in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, live on TNT Sports Box Office.

Joshua is aiming for a third straight victory after beating Jermaine Franklin Jr and Robert Helenius as he looks to continue his recovery from back-to-back defeats to WBA, IBG and WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022.

“I need to win, I have to win,” told TNT Sports at the open workout on Wednesday.

“If it’s destined, if it’s meant to be it will be. But in terms of how the fight will go…I think blood and bruises. It will be tough, but it will be good.”

Wallin has been outspoken about his confidence in the build-up to the fight, with the Swedish boxer saying he is on the way up while AJ has already passed his peak.

“I’m ready, I do want to hurt him. That’s a fact. There are no games here, I do want to hurt him,” Joshua said.

“[He can present] a lot of problems, but that’s high-level competition. I won’t go over everything I’ve been studying about him, but let’s just say he’s got a good mindset.

“He’s spoken a lot, so you know where his head’s at, he’s game. That’s good enough to bring the best out of me.”

Joshua was honest about not enjoying the razzmatazz around the event or his media obligations as he aims to keep his eyes on the prize in the lead-up to Saturday night.

“This isn’t fun for me,” he said.

“What’s going to be fun is Saturday night, getting my hand raised. That’s what my heart, my soul, my whole being in existence right now is focused on, just being successful on Saturday. I really want to win.”

“All this is really nice, but this isn’t for me,” he added. “This is for the entertainment, the viewers, the people who have come to Saudi to watch a night of boxing.

“My entertainment is in the ring Saturday night and I’m not there yet, so I’ve got to stay focused. I’m still in training camp until Friday night so I really should be at home resting, doing some film study or stretching, but I’m here with you guys out of contractual obligations. You know how that goes. Ultimately my true obligation is to fight Saturday night.”

Asked when he flicks a switch to enter fight mode, Joshua said: “We’re in training camp, but it switched when I came out here.

“I told everyone with all due respect don’t bother me. We’re a small team in training camp but here it gets really busy.

“I don’t let too many people come around me because I don’t want to lose sight of what’s important.”

'Day of Reckoning' costs £19.99 in the UK and can be watched through DAZN or TNT Sports Box Office and is available via the DAZN app on Smart TVs, streaming sticks, tablets, laptops and game consoles, Virgin Media TV, Sky and EE TV.

You do not need to be a subscriber to buy this event and more information on all the ways you can watch can be found at www.dayofreckoning.co.uk.

DAZN customers can purchase the fight on www.DAZN.com or via the DAZN app, accessed on their Smart TVs, streaming sticks, laptop, tablets, mobiles and games consoles.

Sky customers can purchase on channel 494 via their remote control or via https://www.sky.com/boxoffice/tnt-sports.

Virgin Media TV customers in the UK: customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View Events rail.

EE TV customers can go to channel 495 and pay using their remote control.

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