(Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

The Day of Reckoning

The star-studded “Day of Reckoning” promotion that took place on December 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, proved to be a star-wrecking extravaganza no one foresaw. It also showed the rising power that Saudi Arabia has become in boxing, bringing together a remarkable collection of world-class heavyweights, plus a pair of pound-for-pound-rated fighters in light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol and Ring cruiserweight champ Jai Opetaia, all on one card. 

Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder co-headlined vs. Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker, respectively. In the co-feature, Daniel Dubois took on Jarrell Miller. Frank Sanchez, Arslanbek Makhmudov and Filip Hrgovic rounded out the undercard. Joshua, Wilder, Parker, Wallin, Hrgovic and Sanchez were all rated in The Ring’s heavyweight top 10 going into the massive show that was distributed via DAZN Pay-Per-View, ESPN+ and TNT Sports Box Office.

Day of Reckoning marked the first time Joshua and Wilder were on the same card together, purposely showcasing both in the hope of setting up a long-anticipated showdown in 2024.

Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn and his U.K. arch rival, Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions (the lead promoter for the event), buried the hatchet and worked together along with a dozen other major promoters and managers.

The Day of Reckoning featured so many Top 10 heavyweights that even the “lesser” bouts, like Frank Sanchez (right) vs. Junior Fa, could’ve been main events. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Despite all of the players and egos, the show was amazingly pieced together in just six weeks. Wallin and Parker were promoted as “live dogs” but were thought to be relatively safe opponents for the A-sides. This held true for Joshua, who impressively halted Wallin after five rounds.

The Dubois-Miller fight had fun possibilities on paper and lived up to its billing. Dubois reinvigorated his career by stopping Miller in 10th and final round of their entertaining tilt, helping to erase the stain of accusations that he quit in his October defeat to unified Ring Magazine heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Dubois was so firmly in the driver’s seat that he could have put it on cruise control and settled for a lopsided decision. Instead, he needed to make a point against an opponent who deemed him “a two-time quitter.” As Dubois peppered Miller with a combination in the 10th, “Big Baby” stuck out his tongue. Dubois responded with a right that eventually led to Miller’s downfall.

Parker’s win wasn’t the only upset in the Day of Reckoning. Agit Kabayel (left) also knocked out touted Russian heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Few expected Parker to crash Wilder’s all-but-consummated party with Joshua, but the former beltholder produced The Ring’s 2023 Comeback of the Year while serving as a fighting example of the popular hashtag “#ActivityMatters.” Rebounding from a September 2022 fight in which he took an 11th-round knockout loss to Joe Joyce, the 32-year-old New Zealander had fought three times in 2023 prior to facing Wilder, who was returning from a 14-month layoff – and it showed. Parker, a +425 betting underdog, dominated almost every second of every round, pushing and controlling the pace, and forcing the listless Wilder backward on his way to a 12-round unanimous decision.

RUNNERS-UP: 

Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. was a fight the sports world had been clamoring to see for years. After seeing it, they wondered why. Crawford put on a virtuoso performance in making history as the first male boxer of the four-belt era to earn undisputed champion status in two weight classes (junior welterweight and welterweight). He dropped Spence three times before the fight was stopped in the ninth.

Gervonta “Tank” Davis-Ryan Garcia created tangible proof that major fights can be made by spouting off enough on social media. The fight hauled in a reported 1.2 million PPV buys and garnered approximately $22.8 million in ticket sales from the 20,842 fans that filled the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou started in the minds of many as nothing more than an exhibition – arguably the most ballyhooed in boxing history as stars from the worlds of boxing, team sports and entertainment gathered in Riyadh to witness it – but circus attraction suddenly got real when the MMA star dropped the unbeaten WBC beltholder and The Ring’s No. 1-rated heavyweight in the third. Fury survived a rough eighth before winning by a narrow, 10-round split decision.

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who was inducted into the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame in 2023. He has contributed to Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JSantoliquito