Joseph Parker
Joseph Parker is New Zealand’s only heavyweight champ however he does not seem to be impressing these days and seems to be missing the spark that the he needs to create interest from overseas viewers.
In NZ it is hard to build up a strong amateur career as there is such a small population and it is a long way from other countries. There is not much money in amateur boxing so flying overseas for boxing comps is expensive which makes it hard for fighters to get the experience. If you compare this to European fighters where the population is bigger and they can jump in a car and get to a number of countries for a relatively low cost. When Joseph Parker tried to qualify for the 2012 Olympics he came up short as he was lacking the international competition that others had, even though Parker has fought overseas it just wasn’t enough. Then if you look at Anthony Joshua, who won the gold at the 2012 Olympics he had fought in many overseas comps against many different people.
In terms of pure talent Joseph Parker has got a lot of skill and is very fast but seems to lacking in power. In his last 4 fights he has landed some clean shots and none of which have done any damage on his opponents. He has not even got close to knocking any of them down. If you look at the best heavyweights in history all of them had a punch that if it landed then you are going down. Then if you look at Anthony Joshua (19-0-19ko’s) who has knock out power in both hands and if he lands that clean shot you are in for a tough time to stay vertical. The same with Deontay Wilder who has an anvil for a right hand. If you put Parker in the ring with either of these two, Joshua and Wilder, Parker is getting KO’d. The other concerning part with Parker is that when he gets tired he puts his weight on his heels, hands drop and chin lifts. Some people say that his fitness looked better in his last fight against Hughie Furry but he was chasing Furry the whole fight and threw his punches when he wanted, he had no real pressure put on him. From what I saw Parker did not look like a Heavyweight champ in his last fight, he was throwing haymakers and lacked the ability to cut off the ring.
Not only do I think that Parker is not the best heavyweight in the world I don’t even think he is the best heavyweight that NZ has produced. If Parker fought David Tua in his prime I believe that Parker would get knocked out. Tua had devastating power and is considered one of the hardest punches in heavy weight history, Tua’s left hook created havoc in the heavyweight division for years. Tua never won the title and got beaten in a one sided fight title fight against Lennox Lewis. The advantage that Tua has over Parker is that devastating power, Parker could not hurt Tua but one punch at any time from Tua could end the fight.
Parker seems to be taking fights that are safe and no one really wants to watch them. He had two razor close decisions against Takam and Ruiz then two disappointing decisions after that. They are now talking about fighting an Australian, who has the WBO title but no name of international interest. When Parker fought Takam the winner was meant to be the mandatory challenger to Joshua’s title however that was a long time ago and the Parker v Joshua fight doesn’t seem any closer. From my perspective the only reason that Parker is on the radar for Joshua or Wilder is that they want his title so then they can fight each other for a unification bout.
Parker has a lot of talent and has done very well, it seems that he has hit his talent wall. There are guys out there that would create massive problems, Dillian White, Dominic Breazeale, Tony Bellew. Then there is a young heavy weight with 5 knock outs from 5 fights and I think he would beat Parker. This young guy Daniel Dubois has freak ability to knock down people with the first punch he throws in the fight, Tyson is the only other heavyweight I have seen do this, it leaves the opponent looking up with surprised look on their face as they try and get to their feet. But this young guy has the x factor and will create massive talk in the heavyweight ranks. In 12 months he will have a bigger profile that Parker mainly because he is more exciting and that destructive power. At the end of the day Parker needs that big fight, the problem is that he will most likely loose and he just doesn’t have to tools to challenge the top level guys. For Parker to really progress it seems he should leave Kevin Barry, his trainer, and Duco, his promotion company. If he was with one of the top trainers he would have better people around him and have more of chance of getting the big name fights.
Gareth Lewis
Head MMA Instructor