Otto Wallin and promoter Dmitry Salita confirm talks with Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua for fight next year

Otto Wallin has revealed he is a candidate to be Anthony Joshua’s opponent when he returns to the ring next year.

Joshua hasn’t fought since losing his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in August and he is expected to return around March or April 2023.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn previously said his opponent would most likely be Dillian Whyte, who won a close fight against Jermaine Franklin last month.

That being said, Whyte won’t be thrilled to hear his rematch against Joshua could be in jeopardy after Wallin revealed he was in talks to fight ‘AJ’ next.

“I hope to get the Joshua fight,” Wallin told IFL TV. “It’s something we’ve been working on and we’re waiting to hear from them, we’re waiting to have a real offer.

“We don’t know yet but there have been discussions between Eddie [Hearn] and Dmitri [Salita], our promoters, so we’ll see. I really hope I can get that fight, I think that would be good.

“I think Joshua has just suffered two defeats, I think it would be a pretty easy fight to sell in the UK since I fought [Tyson] Fury and did well with him. So I think it would be good and I would like to have this opportunity.

Wallin fought Fury in 2019 and came close to picking up the win when the fight was nearly stopped due to Fury suffering a nasty cut, but “The Gypsy King” survived to go on and win by unanimous decision.

The Swede was then asked if an official offer had been made and he replied: “There have been some numbers but from what I understand Joshua hasn’t made up his mind yet and it looks like it’s up to him who he’s going to fight and I don’t think he’s made a decision yet.

Wallin’s promoter Salita also confirmed talks with Hearn about a fight with Joshua, saying they spoke as recently as last week.

“I had discussions with Eddie about Otto for a considerable time and as recently as last week,” Salita told SunSport.

“From what I understand, it’s really up to AJ to decide. I believe he wants to get back into the heavyweight image.

“Otto and AJ both want to try their luck against Fury. In numbers, Otto has landed more punches on Fury than anyone.

“I believe the winner of this fight will have the legitimate right to challenge Fury probably after his fight with Oleksandr Usyk.”