Eddie Hearn is forced to take a back seat as rival Frank Warren spearheads Christmas blockbuster card in Saudi Arabia... with Anthony Joshua set to pocket a share of £75m from Otto Wallin showdown

Anthony Joshua's insistence on clambering back aboard the oil train to Saudi Arabia has brought Eddie Hearn to Frank Warren's table for the first time in their long and often bitter rivalry.

As Warren's Queensberry company unveiled at a media conference in Wembley Arena a bumper card in Riyadh on December 23, Hearn took his place as one of the supporting promoters.

Warren is resisting any temptation to gloat. Instead, he says: 'I'm just delighted that I've been able to bring together many of the world's leading promoters.

'And everybody involved should be very grateful to His Exellency Turku Alalshikh (Saudi Minister of Entertainment) for making this possible. '

Given the massive funding, there could be no reasonable denying Matchroom Man Joshua his share of a total Christmas box purse for this event understood to be in the region of £75 million.

Hopefully Joshua's comeback from a darkened room of soul searching meditation - and a place not too distant from career oblivion - is happening just in time.

The incentive to do this cannot be as rewarding as the $50 million Tyson Fury is believed to have banked from his somewhat fraught crossover battle with UFC icon Francis Ngannou in Riyadh last month.

Nor will it come close to the Gypsy King's next fortune awaiting him in the long delayed fight with Oleksandr Usyk which, on February 17, will anoint the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.

That, too, will take place in Riyadh, where a further inducement dangles for Joshua as long he beats Otto Wallin.

Deontay Wilder, the biggest puncher in boxing today and now recovered from his brutal trilogy with Fury, takes on another former world champion Joseph Parker on the Joshua-Wallin Christmas card.

‘The end game for these,' says Warren, ‘is AJ v Wilder in the New Year on condition they both win. Also in Riyadh.

‘I said when we did Tyson v Ngannou that it was a huge event which would be a game-changer for boxing. And here we are, with all these parties coming together. '

Joshua made his first appearance in Saudi Arabia on a Matchroom card in his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr.

A change in advisors paved the way for Warren to establish a long-term partnership with the Kingdom.

Hence Joshua v Wallin, whose only loss has been to Fury despite inflicting a a 46 stitch cut to the eye of the World champion.

Plus not only Wilder v Parker but also a chance for Daniel Dubois to come back into world title contention after his controversial loss to Usyk, among a number of high profile fights.