Anthony Joshua was given the zombie treatment in a striking new Hollywood-style trailer for the mega Day of Reckoning boxing event in Saudi Arabia next Saturday.
The British fighter led the stars depicted as the undead in a promo for the huge line-up of boxing talent in Riyadh – with Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker, Otto Wallin and even promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren getting involved to promote the highly-anticipated card.
Joshua will be the co-headliner on December 23 against Swedish fighter Wallin, alongside Wilder vs Parker in the Middle East, with Daniel Dubois vs Jarrell Miller and Dmitri Bivol against Lyndon Arthur the other huge fights fans can look forward to.
And in the build up to the mega event, organisers have produced a trailer that looks straight out of a big-budget horror movie that shows the big names involved walking around the streets as zombies.
Parker is the first to appear, as he sits on a bench with his head swivelling around and showing his face covered in blood. Wallin is then seen walking along a road with another zombie holding onto his leg – before he punches it in the head.
British boxing star Anthony Joshua was given the zombie treatment in a striking new trailer for the Day of Reckoning card
American heavyweight Deontay Wilder was also depicted as a member of the undead in this Hollywood-style clip
The group of boxers for Saturday’s card are seen staggering down a road filled with wreckage
Saturday’s mega boxing event in Saudi Arabia is being labelled as one of the best cards in the history of the sport
We then see a van driving through a crowd of zombies driven by Wilder – himself undead – sitting alongside passenger Frank Warren, head of Queensbury Promotions, who has also been given the scary treatment.
Fans are then shown a stern-looking Joshua writing a message on a newspaper in blood, before Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn is revealed sitting next to him, putting out his cigar in the head of another zombie.
Joshua then walks down the stairs and decapitates another creature as Wilder and Warren continue their drive through the streets – while Bivol prepares to fight a horde of the monsters.
A wide shot is then shown of a street filled with cars on fire and boxer zombies – before the title card ‘Day of Reckoning’ appears at the top.
Joshua later showed his preparations behind the scenes as he posed for pictures while wearing zombie make-up, showing fake cuts and blood all over his body.
Even Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn got involved in the clip as he put on zombie make-up to promote the event
It certainly will be a day of reckoning, with reports that should Joshua and Wilder both win against Wallin and Parker respectively, the pair will stage a long-awaited showdown early next year.
According to ESPN, Wilder and Joshua have agreed to return to Saudi Arabia three months after the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card on March 9, 2024 if they are both successful.
It would come just a month after Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk stage their undisputed showdown on February 17 ahead of what is expected to be a big year for boxing.
Ahead of a potential meeting between Joshua and Wilder, the simmering war of words between the two men has ramped up, with Wilder making the outlandish claim that the former world champion’s team have manipulated attendances over the years to make their fighter appear more popular than he is.
‘I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again, it’s a difference between champions being born and being made,’ Wilder shared.
Joshua later showed off his behind the scenes preparations for filming, posing while displaying his zombie make-up
Both Joshua and Wilder are expected to face off in Saudi Arabia next year should they both come through their fights on December 23
The event will show off some of the biggest names in boxing – including AJ, Wilder, Otto Wallin, Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois, Filip Hrgovic and Dmitri Bivol
‘Joshua was made, he was a made fighter. They bought things, they gave him things. Even with certain things, with the arena. “Oh, they sold this”. No, you didn’t sell out nothing. You comped tickets and you resold them.
‘I know how the whole game works. I’m behind scenes. I know how things work. You wanted it to seem like it sold out, you put your tickets out there, and you build your own little ticket thing and you buy all your tickets.
‘Now it seems like you sold out the arena. What you do? All you do is put it back on the market and resell it.
‘It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, when it comes to the business and now people on the outside looking in, “Oh my God, they sold out faster than Michael f****ng Jackson”. Are you serious? That’s how it is. That’s how the trick is done.’
Wilder previously shared that he had offered Anthony’s camp £40million, and accused his representatives of ‘holding him back’, resulting in the fight never going ahead.
‘Many times he wanted to fight, he wanted to accept it but his handlers didn’t want it because Joshua is the money-maker for the company,’ Wilder exclusively told Mail Sport. ‘And if he goes down, so does the business.’
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn refuted the claims, admitting that Wilder’s camp had made the offer in a bid to get the fight made, but had failed to send a contract – hence the fight never materialising.
