George Groves believes Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder could have picked "easier fights" ahead of their anticipated bout early next year.

The two heavyweight stars feature on Saturday's stacked Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia, with Joshua taking on Otto Wallin and Wilder locking horns with former world champion Joseph Parker.

While both are expected to win their respective bouts, defeat is far from beyond the realms of possibility — and Groves is well aware of the risk element involved.

In a column for the BBC, the 35-year-old Saint said: "It seems we are now just one successful night away from Joshua and Wilder finally getting it on next year — but they could have saved us all some stress by picking easier fights. 

"It is not out of the question that Joshua loses against Wallin or Wilder loses to Parker. I'm not picking against either of them but neither would be the biggest upset this year, or even this month. 

"In particular, Wallin is no walkover and it is a very risky fight given what is at stake. I am assuming it just came down to what the Saudis requested. 

"I don't know who is making the matches but someone knows they need meaningful fights if they're paying so much money. Ultimately, everyone is doing what they're told because the money is really good. 

"The media conference was announced and everyone flew in for it instantly. These people make stuff happen. 

"But don't get me wrong — although these are risky fights for both, they are certainly winnable fights. If they can't get through these then Wilder and Joshua fighting each other isn't really of interest anyway."

Joshua, 34, goes into his latest bout on the back of victories over Jermaine Franklin Jr and Robert Helenius, which came after consecutive defeats to heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk.

Wilder, 38, has not fought since his own victory over Helenius in October 2022, which means Parker should be less rusty having beaten Simon Kean less than two months ago.