Tyson Fury’s old rival Otto Wallin ‘in talks to fight Anthony Joshua’ as Battle of Britain hopes collapse

ANTHONY JOSHUA is reportedly in talks to face Tyson Fury’s former opponent Otto Wallin.

The Brit, 32, suffered a second defeat in a row and third of his professional career back in August when Oleksandr Usyk defeated him in their rematch in Saudi Arabia.

GettyJoshua is expected to return to the ring in December[/caption]

GettyWallin’s only defeat in 25 professional bouts came against Fury[/caption]

Joshua’s loss left him without any world heavyweight title belts as Usyk retained his IBF, WBA and WBO straps, while Fury holds the WBC.

Yet despite his poor bargaining position, AJ was surprisingly offered the chance to fight Fury in an all-British clash on December 3.

Joshua agreed to a 60/40 split in favour of The Gypsy King, but negotiations then broke down after Fury set a deadline for the fight to be signed.

When it wasn’t, he declared he was moving on to other opponents.

Fury now appears set to take on Derek Chisora in a trilogy bout in Cardiff on December 3.

Meanwhile, Wallin, who lost to Fury by unanimous decision in September 2019, has claimed his team have been contacted by Joshua’s representatives ahead of a potential clash.

Speaking to iDBoxing, the Swedish heavyweight, 31, said: “They’ve been in touch, Dmitry [Salita] and Eddie Hearn have talked about it.

“I don’t know what the latest is now, but I know they’ve spoken before about it and I think Dmitry was told that they were going to wait for the Fury and Joshua negotiations.

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“I haven’t got any update lately, but I would love that fight, that would be really good for me I think and I know Joshua pretty well, he knows me and that would be a good fight.”

Joshua’s expected return date is December 17 as he searches for a first win in two years.

He has lost three of his last five fights – with wins against Andy Ruiz Jr and Kubrat Pulev coming among defeats to Ruiz and Usyk twice.

Wallin has a record of 24 wins and one defeat – with that blemish coming against Fury.

His best victories have come against the likes of Travis Kauffman and Dominic Breazeale.

Fury is closing in on a bout with Chisora on December 3Richard Pelham / The Sun