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In the final installment of Saudi Arabia’s 2023 dive into mega boxing cards, we’ve got possibly the most interesting Heavyweight-laden pay-per-view (PPV) card in decades. Indeed, “Day of Reckoning” goes down today (Sat., Dec. 23, 2023), live from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, streaming on DAZN PPV with a special 11 a.m. ET start time.
If the rankings from the four major boxing sanctioning bodies, as well as the three main recognized outside entities (Rings, BoxRec and Transnational Boxing Rankings Board) are compiled, combat sports fans are about to witness Anthony Joshua (No. 3) fighting Otto Wallin (No. 6), while Deontay Wilder (No. 4) clashes with Joseph Parker (No. 9).
Oh, and let’s not forget about the other super solid Heavyweight clash between Top 15-seeded pugilists Jarrell Miller, who will look to continue his comeback against former WBA kingpin, Daniel Dubois. And while we’re looking at all the big names, let’s also remember Light Heavyweight star (and WBA champion) Dmitry Bivol, as well as IBF Cruiserweight roost-ruler, Jai Opetaia, who are taking on what are widely considered stay-busy fights against lesser-ranked competition.
All in all, this is going to be a card of big, beefy men lumping each other up in padded gloves. So, let’s get cracking …
Keep in mind that we will also be the spot for the latest news, recaps, and post-fight analysis following “Day of Reckoning.” Without further delay, see below for the latest “Day of Reckoning main card PPV results. (Note: This will go from the bottom up; therefore, scroll toward the bottom for the latest detailed round-by-round action.)
“Day of Reckoning” Quick Results:
Anthony Joshua def. Otto Wallin — TKO, Rd. 5, 3:00 — HIGHLIGHTS!
Joseph Parker def. Deontay Wilder — Decision, 120-108, 118-110, 118-111 — HIGHLIGHTS!
Dmitry Bivol dfe. Lyndon Arthur — Decision, 120-107 x3 — HIGHLIGHTS!
Daniel Dubois def. Jarrell Miller — KO, Rd. 10, 2:52 — HIGHLIGHTS!
Jai Opetaia def. Ellis Zorro — KO, Rd. 1, 2:56 — HIGHLIGHTS!
Filip Hrgovic def. Mark De Mori — TKO, Rd. 1, 1:46
Agit Kabayel def. Arslanbek Makhmudov — KO, Rd. 4, 2:03 — HIGHLIGHTS!
Frank Sanchez def. Junior Fa — KO, Rd. 7, 2:42
Day of Reckoning Play-By-Play Results:
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Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin
Round 1: Wallin in black, Joshua in white. Joshua takes center ring to start us off. First good shot is a right from the Brit to the body. Not much happening here, as Wallin looks reluctant to engage. Both men minding their P’s and Q’s early
10-9 Joshua
Round 2: Wallin decides it’s his turn to be in the middle and gets in a jab before ceding ground to Joshua. Body-head from Anthony. I was wondering if it was just my stream with no sound, but there’s a little “APOLOGIES FOR AUDIO ISSUES” up top now, so I feel better. Both men being sound defensively. Wallin lands a lunging jab near the bell.
10-9 Joshua
Round 3: Joshua 1-2 to the body and lands the 2. Very little happening so far. Body blow for Joshua again, Wallin finally gets in a left.
10-9 Joshua
Round 4: The occasional hit to the sternum has allowed Joshua to get more room to land upstairs, and he’s getting closer with the hooks upstairs. AJ backs Wallin into the corner and thuds in a pair.
10-9 Joshua
Round 5: Joshua isn’t landing super clean, but with his power, even half-blocked punches are doing issue to Wallin. He’s getting in about four to one. Wallin just not attacking. He gets in a counter right, but not much on it.
AJ with a big counter right and immediate left, and Wallin is wobbled. He backs up into the ropes. Joshua to the body and the head. Big right hook, mostly blocked, but still thudding on the guard and nose. Wallin fumbling around the ring, covering up. Joshua cracks around the temple of Wallin at the bell
10-9 Joshua
Round 6: Wallin’s corner stops it in between rounds.
Final result: Anthony Joshua defeats Otto Wallin by TKO
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Deontay Wilder vs. Joseph Parker
Round 1: Wilder in black, Parker in red. Parker takes center ring while Wilder circles. Halfway through the round, and no one has connected with anything yet. Finally a right by Parker with 35 seconds to go.
10-9 Parker with a strike stat of 1-0
Round 2: Wilder’s corner telling him to feint and double jab to get in range, and honestly, I’m shocked it wasn’t something he could figure out on his own. Finally a touch of action as Parker lunges in with a flurry, but neither man really landed anything solid before they clinched. Parker to the body.
10-9 Parker
Round 3: Two rounds of a whole lot of nothing. Let’s see if the third brings us anything of note. Parker lunges in and I think both men landed a bit there. Body shot by Parker. Parker willing to engage a bit more so far, as he’s evaded almost everything Wilder’s thrown so far.
10-9 Parker
Round 4: Parker throws a right as Wilder circles into that direction. Parker lunges in with a right hand, Wilder retaliates with one of his own. They clash into a clinch again. Parker sprints in and puts a nice left on the chin of Wilder.
10-9 Parker
Round 5: Wilder having some success with his jab, but little else. Parker with a good right as both men exchanged. Parker to the body.
10-9 Parker
Round 6: Commentary speculating on what if Wilder can’t find the knockout, does he have a plan B, and the answer so far has been no. Parker is just doing more than Wilder and scoring more. Parker with a couple lunges in and if it doesn’t work, he’s already in a clinch. Wilder finally advances and a 1-2 nearly does something big. Good 1-2 by Parker.
10-9 Parker
Round 7: Parker is just bullying Wilder inside and doing the smart thing here – staying out of jab range, or lunging in past Wilder’s comfort zone. Good jab to the body. Wilder with a left. Parker gets in a right. Parker nearly connects one of these overhands he’s been throwing.
10-9 Parker
Round 8: Nice right by Parker, but that seemed to make Wilder mad and he throws back. Both men connected well in that exchange. Parker lands a huge overhand right and Wilder looks stunned. Parker is going berserk here trying to finish it! He can’t get it, but that was by far the most action this entire fight.
10-9 Parker
Round 9: Wilder does not look like he’s on steady legs, but then again, he’s got twig stalks, so looks might be deceiving. Parker enters with a left-right, exits with a referee break of the clinch. Parker lands a left.
10-9 Parker
Round 10: Wilder evades a punch and gets in a combo. Finally something offensive by Wilder. Overhand by Parker and an uppercut by Wilder. This may be generous, but I’ll give this one to Deontay.
10-9 Wilder
Round 11: Again, the overhand vs the uppercut seems to be all that’s left for both men, and it’s been the shots from Parker that have won the day. Parker with a nice left hand in the clinch. Wilder with a little hammerfist at the bell.
10-9 Parker
Round 12: The “Bronze Bomber” is finally being aggressive, but it might be too little, too late. Parker still looking for that overhand, but let’s see who might land now that Wilder has finally thrown some of that caution to the wind. Parker with an overhand, then a jab. Wilder’s shots are just nowhere near the mark. 45 seconds left. Parker tying up Wilder and killing time. He spends the rest of the round making sure he doesn’t get hit.
10-9 Wilder
Final result: Joseph Parker defeats Deontay Wilder by unanimous decision — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
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Dmitry Bivol vs. Lyndon Arthur for WBA and IBO Light Heavyweight titles
Round 1: Bivol in gold, Arthur in black. Bivol on the front foot, and two of the best jabbers in the division exchange their favorite strikes. Lots of jabs, and whenever either man gets too close, a clinch. Bivol looking a little more for power as he’s stalking in. There’s a good lead left by Bivol. Hard to count the number of jabs both men landed, but Arthur definitely threw – and landed – that strike a ton.
10-9 Bivol
Round 2: Bivol’s feinting and footwork have hurt Arthur’s output, as he’s unsure of the timing. Bivol lands a cracking right and Arthur is up against the ropes. Bivol flurrying with hooks and crosses. This round has featured a very aggressive Dmitry Bivol. He’s at it again with another series of shots. Arthur hasn’t landed a single power punch this round that I can recall.
10-9 Bivol
Round 3: Bit of a slower pace, as Bivol isn’t winging power punches anymore. Straight punches in small combinations from the WBA champ so far. Arthur isn’t really offering anything in return other than the occasional jab – nothing to break up the flow that Bivol keeps entering into. Great combo. Arthur finally uses his right hand, to the breadbasket here. Easy round for Bivol.
10-9 Bivol
Round 4: Left from Bivol. Both men land a right, with Bivol’s strike looking like it bothered the opponent more. Arthur is twitching and feinting, but Bivol just isn’t buying anything he’s selling. Bivol is keeping his gloves on or near the face of Arthur so often that the Brit doesn’t look like he knows where anything is.
10-9 Bivol
Round 5: Slower round here, as both men have slipped into a pattern — both men using single jabs to try and set up something else, but only Bivol really succeeding. Not much to write home about that hasn’t been said already. Arthur is landing his jab periodically. Bivol is landing his, and also some more shots behind it. Bivol outclassing Arthur handily.
10-9 Bivol
Round 6: Same verse, just like the other. Arthur not getting his power hand into play at all, Bivol getting free reign to do almost whatever he likes, so long as it’s not being slow and lazy with his own jab. It’s hard to write down what’s happening without sounding like a broken record at this point. The last 30 seconds of the round, Bivol threw something like 20 or 25 punches, while all Arthur had to offer was three jabs.
10-9 Bivol
Round 7: Bivol not respecting anything that Arthur even offers up at this point. This might as well be a spar for him at this point with what little offense that Arthur is putting up. Bivol gets Arthur into the ropes and unloads some hooks. If Arthur landed more punches this round than I have fingers on one hand, I’ll be shocked.
10-9 Bivol
Round 8: Bivol with a heavy liver shot. Another to the body and then up to the head. Arthur lands a nice body shot and that might have actually done something to Bivol, as he backs up a little. He regains his composure after a short while and pours in some heavy blows.
10-9 Bivol
Round 9: Pair of rights by Bivol. Gets Arthur to the ropes, tries to slug in to the head.
10-9 Bivol
Round 10: Again, hard to say anything here, this is a glorified practice session. The only thing to discuss here is are some of these rounds 10-9 or 10-8. Arthur’s back hits the ropes and Bivol flurries upstairs and downstairs.
10-9 Bivol
Round 11: After about a minute of the same record playing, Arthur finally gets about fifteen seconds of moving forward and landing a few strikes in a row. Bivol finally gets into a flow state and flurries body and head with power punches. Arthur drops to a knee after a pair of liver shots and we finally have a knockdown. Arthur stands up before the bell.
10-8 Bivol
Round 12: Arthur gets backed into the ropes and Bivol is unloading on him. The ref and Arthur’s corner is giving him every opportunity here, but it might get stopped at any moment. Arthur gets in a punch and clinches to get the onslaught to stop. Credit to Arthur for not going down and still throwing a bit here. One last big flurry from Bivol, but Arthur hands on to the final bell.
10-9 Bivol
Final result: Dmitry Bivol defeats Lyndon Arthur by unanimous decision — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
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Jai Opetaia vs. Ellis Zorro
Round 1: Opetaia in white and silver, Zorro in white and black. Opetaia moving forward to start us off. Zorro jabs to the gut. Opetaia’s left lands, but looks like it got a fair amount of shoulder. Zorro ducks under a big swing. Huge left hand at the end of the round and that’s all she wrote. In a flash, my goodness.
Final result: Jai Opetaia defeats Ellis Zorro by knockout — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
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Daniel Dubois vs. Jarrell Miller
Round 1: Dubois landing some short shots early. Miller not moving much. Nice right hand. Jabs. Good traffic coming from Dubois. Mostly a good pot-shotting round for Daniel.
10-9 Dubois
Round 2: Miller plodding forward, trying to get into range, but eating shots on the way in. He hasn’t had much success early so far. Dubois lands a couple of rights, but nothing really seeming to faze the big man. Miller clips a right, looks to be mostly shoulder. Very Homer Simpsonesque by Jarrell Miller through two. We’ll see if it pays off.
10-9 Dubois
Round 3: Smart fighting from Dubois thus far. We’ll see if his cardio and strategy hold up as he continues to circle and outbox the big thumper. Jab, circle, repeat. There’s a left by Miller. Slower pace this round, but still good movement by Dubois. 1-2-1 and a circle away from a big right.
10-9 Dubois
Round 4: Dubois looks like the pace might have caught up to him as Miller is creeping closer. Jabs by both men. Miller blocks a 1-2. Miller with a great uppercut, hook combo. Miller with a clubbing left near the end of the round.
10-9 Miller
Round 5: Miller with a shovel hook. Right-right and a left. Dubois to the body, Miller to the side of the head. Right uppercut from Dubois lands flush. Better round for “Dynamite” than the last one
10-9 Miller
Round 6: Left by Dubois met by a simultaneous right by Miller. Dubois lands a jab and leans back from the uppercut that comes back his way. Dubois seems to have figured out that he’s not knocking the man-tank out, so he’s just got to out-point him and use his footwork. Three unanswered jabs for him as he works that strategy.
10-9 Dubois
Round 7: Miller looks like he’s picking up his pace a bit as he tries hard to get and keep Dubois in range. Dubois circling, ducks under, and using solid footwork to keep abreast and away as he dinks and dunks on Miller. Good land for Dubois and he avoids the swing in return. There’s a nice short right by Miller. Miller doing his damndest to keep Dubois in front of him, happy to eat one if it finally lets him land a couple. He’s landed more this round. He’s bleeding from the mouth, but has landed some thudding rights. Credit to Dubois, as he has not cracked yet — if he ever does.
10-9 Miller
Round 8: Dubois honestly looks very fresh, he seems to have found a second wind. He stabs Miller with a right that freezes his legs. Good follow up right a few seconds later. Miller may have used up what gas he has in the last round. Dubois landing with volume now and Miller doing little about it with less than a minute to go. Ref warning Dubois about holding the back of the head.
10-9 Dubois
Round 9: Miller’s trying, still plodding forward, but every few steps, he’s met by a couple of punches and he’s rarely throwing anything back. There’s no real break to this monotony of plod-and-get-hit. We’re halfway through the round and I think Miller has landed two punches so far, while Dubois has got to be pushing 25. Dubois standing his ground a bit now, not sure that’s the wisest strategy, but it looks like Miller doesn’t have the gas left to really make him pay.
10-9 Dubois
Round 10: Final round, and both men look to utilize whatever energy they have left here. Miller landing a bit better, but still not enough to counteract the volume that Dubois is putting out. Millet lands a right, eats three in reply (no, that isn’t a joke about his weight). Dubois to the body three times. Jab, pause, uppercut by Dubois backs up Miller. He is very much outclassing the big man here, landing almost at will. He wobbles him with 20 seconds to go! Miller was talking smack and ate a few big punches! Miller is wobbly and after four more shots, he saves the big man from any further damage.
Final result: Daniel Dubois defeats Jarrell Miller by TKO — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
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