Wilder vs Parker: Fight time, undercard, prediction, latest odds and ring walks

Deontay Wilder will look to tee up a blockbuster showdown with Anthony Joshua when he fights Joseph Parker on Saturday night.

The heavyweight superstars are sharing the same festive bill on a huge evening of boxing in Riyadh this weekend, setting the scene for a long-awaited clash between the former world champions back in Saudi Arabia early next year.

But while Joshua first has to negotiate the tricky challenge of Otto Wallin in Saturday's main event, Wilder similarly has to hold up his end of the bargain by seeing off the challenge of Parker in the co-headline bout.

This will be only the American's second fight since his back-to-back losses to Tyson Fury in that famous trilogy that culminated in October 2021, with 'The Bronze Bomber' having inflicted a brutal first-round knockout on Robert Helenius - who would later go seven rounds with Joshua - in Brooklyn 14 months ago.

He should find things tougher after such a layoff against the experienced and durable Parker, a training partner of Wilder's arch-nemesis Fury who will undoubtedly be seeking tips from his close friend on how to spring a big upset in the Middle East.

Parker became the first man ever to take Joshua the distance as a professional as he lost his WBO title in a unification fight in Cardiff back in 2018, while he was also outpointed by Dillian Whyte and was stopped in a gruelling war with Joe Joyce only last year.

The affable New Zealander has been on the comeback trail since then, being taken the full 10 rounds by usual cruiserweight Jack Massey on the Chris Eubank Jr-Liam Smith undercard before heading to Australia and Saudi for early knockouts of Faiga Opelu and Simon Kean, picking up the vacant IBF and WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight titles with the latter win on the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou undercard.

Wilder vs Parker takes place on Saturday December 23, 2023 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The early undercard is due to kick off at around 4pm GMT, with the main portion from 7pm GMT.

Joshua-Wallin ring walks are expected at approximately 11:45pm GMT, with Wilder-Parker ring walks slated for around 10:35pm GMT.

As always though, those timings are all approximate and subject to change.

Wilder-Parker will serve as the co-main event on Saturday night, with Joshua vs Wallin handed top billing.

The formidable Dmitry Bivol also defends his WBA light-heavyweight title for the 11th time against Manchester's Lyndon Arthur, while fireworks could well fly when Daniel Dubois battles Jarrell Miller in another headline heavyweight tussle.

Jai Opetaia - recently forced to vacate his IBF cruiserweight world title - is also in action on a busy show, along with another heavyweight trio in Filip Hrgovic, Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin

Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker

Dmitry Bivol vs Lyndon Arthur

Daniel Dubois vs Jarrell Miller

Jai Opetaia vs Ellis Zorro

Filip Hrgovic vs Mark de Mori

Arslanbek Makhmudov vs Agit Kabayel

Frank Sanchez vs Junior Fa

TV channel: Wilder vs Parker is being shown live on both DAZN PPV and TNT Sports Box Office in the UK. The event will cost £19.99 to buy on either channel.

Live stream: Fight fans can also watch the action unfold live online after purchase, via the DAZN app and website or TNT Sports Box Office website.

Live blog: You can also follow Wilder vs Parker and all of Saturday's other fights via Standard Sport's live blog.

The Fury trilogy seems to have taken something out of Wilder in terms of his out-of-ring persona, though the only evidence we have in the ring is that he remains as wildly destructive as ever - as Helenius found out to his cost with one brutal early swing of that dynamite right hand at Barclays Center.

But no fights in 14 months means there will likely be some ring rust to shake off against a notably tough and durable opponent in Parker, who will certainly not go down lightly.

We expect Parker to make this fight close - and probably something of a tough watch - over the first few rounds or so, before Wilder uncorks one of those lights-out strikes from nowhere midway through to secure another emphatic stoppage and send a warning to Joshua.

Wilder to win by knockout in the middle rounds.

The weigh-ins for Saturday's mega night of boxing take place on Friday in Riyadh. Check back in then to see the results.

Wilder to win: 1/5

Parker to win: 9/2

Draw: 25/1

(odds subject to change)

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