It's often puzzling the moves that are made in boxing, and there's no better example of that this week than the circumstances surrounding former heavyweight champions Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua on "The Day of Reckoning" card Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
There was a lot of momentum earlier in the year to pit Wilder and Joshua against each other in a fight that fans have wanted to see for at least five years, if not longer.
Given the sheer size of the card, with so many ranked heavyweights as well as light heavyweight Dmitri Bivol and cruiserweight Jai Opetalia, it's become di rigueur to call it a great call.
It's got big names, but none of them are fighting in truly competitive fights.
It would have been a great card, though, had Joshua and Wilder signed to face each other on Saturday instead of competing as they are in separate bouts. There has been much talk that they'll fight in March if they both win, and that's better than nothing. Why, though, risk it?
Why is Wilder fighting former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker on Saturday instead of Joshua? Surely Parker didn't get the fight because of his recent form. After losing to Joe Joyce by 11th round KO on Sept. 24, 2022, Parker has beaten Jack Massey, Faiga Opelu and Simon. No one ever compared Massey, Opelu and Simon to Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey, that's for certain.
In heavyweight boxing, all it takes to mess up the best-laid plans is one perfectly placed right cross.
It's also appropriate to ask why Joshua is fighting Otto Wallin in a fight no one outside of Wallin's family and team called for, instead of Wilder.
If one, or both, of Parker and/or Wallin connects with a big shot, it would likely spell the last hope for Joshua-Wilder, one of the best and most asked-for bouts of this era.
Give Wilder credit; he's gone to great lengths to get the Joshua fight. But the fact that he's far closer to the end of his career than the beginning and he still hasn't fought Joshua is symbolic of the sport's myriad issues. It's been better this year, to be fair; it's been a lot better. But there is still too much of this kind of thing happening.
Neither Wallin nor Parker are stars, though Parker briefly held the WBO heavyweight title, but both are solid professionals and, in heavyweight boxing, it only takes one shot.
Both are significant underdogs at DraftKings sports book. Joshua is a -385 favorite, while Wallin is +285. Wilder is a -650 favorite while Parker is +450.
While both are underdogs, neither can be ruled out entirely. Wilder has only fought one round since getting stopped by Tyson Fury on Oct. 9, 2021, that being a KO of Robert Helenius. Helenius was never a threat in that fight and Wilder blew him away with a huge shot.
So we don't know how much Wilder has left after those hard fights with Fury. It's conceivable his chin isn't what it was.
Wilder has been talking about knocking Parker out regularly, and said at one point he wanted to knock Parker clean out of the ring. Wilder said Parker should bring a pillow to the fight. Parker clearly hasn't enjoyed being the butt of such jokes, and when asked about it at the final pre-fight news conference, the normally affable Kiwi was snarky.
"Don't ask me that kind of silly question," Parker said. "Stupid question. On to the next one."
Parker has shown confidence in himself, and rightly so. Asked if he felt he could not only win, but finish Wilder, he never hesitated.
"Of course, this is the Top 10," Parker said. "It's a tough test but I know I can knock him out, 100 percent."
Wallin doesn't have the kind of power that Parker possesses, and despite being 26-1 with only a loss to Fury marring his record, Wallin only has 14 knockouts. He's most likely going to have to outbox Joshua to get the win, and then if he does, hope the judges get it right.
And while we've heard ad infinitum about the difficult fight he gave Fury, he cut Fury early and that impacted the bout. Had Fury not had that massive gash, he'd likely have had a far easier time.
Wallin conceded he has butterflies because of the significance of the bout, but that hasn't stopped him from proclaiming he can upset the apple cart.
"Of course, I'm nervous," Wallin said "It's a big fight, a big opportunity, but i'm ready for it. I've worked very hard to be here and now it's time to enjoy the moment and win the fight and move on. People are talking about upsets, [but] I'm going to win the fight and [when I do], you shouldn't call it an upset. It's not really an upset, it's just natural. This is my time so i'm ready for it. I'm just happy to be here.
"I'm just trying to be myself. People say I talk a lot now but I get asked questions and I just answer them how I feel. I'm not trying to make anything up, it's just the truth. If people like it then fine. If they don't, then that's OK, too."
What wouldn't be OK is if such a hotly anticipated fight could be derailed by the short-sighted nature of the folks who run boxing. It won't be the first time and it's not going to be the last, but Joshua-Wilder is a true mega-fight.
To put it at risk by making two fights few are keenly interested in is something only boxing promoters could understand.