By Jeff Aranow: IBF mandatory challenger Joseph Parker (19-0, 16 KOs) plans on having fixed his defensive issues by the time he steps inside the ring to face IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) in the near future. Parker beat Carlos Takam by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night to earn the IBF mandatory spot to face Joshua. However, Parker also showed a lot of defensive flaws as well as stamina problems that made his fight against the 35-year-old Takam harder than it should have been. But given that the fight was seen as a 50-50 affair going in, it’s quite an accomplishment that the 24-year-old Parker won. He doesn’t have much experience in the pro ranks, and putting him in with a skilled pro like Takam was a major risk by his management.
Before the 6’4” Parker challenges Joshua for his IBF title, he’ll be facing 40-year-old Australian Solomon Haumono on July 21 in Christchurch, New Zealand. That is supposed to be a very winnable fight for Parker, but it could also be a tough one too because Haumono is ranked #12 by the World Boxing Association. He’s got power, and he could give Parker fits if he’s able to land his shots. Takam didn’t look great, but when he was throwing his shots, he was able to connect frequently because of Parker’s wide open defense.
“I believe it will be a great fight. He brings power and good build and I bring speed and power. When the fight happens, everyone should tune in, because it’s going to be an exciting fight. I believe it will be very exciting,” said Parker to skysports.com.
Parker did have the hand speed advantage over Takam last Saturday. Parker looked good when he was throwing combinations. The problem that hindered Parker was his inconsistency. He wasn’t throwing enough punches, and he was taking too many breaks. Parker also was backed up easily by the 6’2” Takam, and he should have stood his ground more and stopped his momentum. Parker isn’t going to be able to move away from Joshua because he’ll cut off the ring on him. Parker will need to be able to stand in front of him and exchange.
Parker has the power to hurt Joshua if he can land cleanly. For some reason, Parker’s punches had little effect on Takam, but that might be due to him having a good chance. Joshua was hurt by Dillian Whyte last December in their fight in London, and Whyte isn’t considered to be as good a puncher as Parker.
“To challenge someone like Joshua who is also a strong and young fighter – it’s going to be exciting, two young fighters who are at their peak, going for it. It’s going to be a great war,” said Parker. “We practice a lot of defence in camp and when I came into the fight my hands were down and I was standing upright, with my chin up in the air.”
Parker was just all around too vulnerable to the shots that Takam was throwing in that fight. Parker won by the scores 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113. The outcome could have been much different if Takam had the engine to fight hard for 12 rounds instead of just three. Takam didn’t have the conditioning to win the fight. A younger heavyweight would have given Parker all he could handle last Saturday and likely beaten him if he could stand up to his big shots. Parker would have needed to raise his game to the next level.
“These are bad habits that came back into play, but I guess with every fight you’re learning and getting better. I actually look forward to going back into camp and practicing and working on these things,” said Parker.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn will be the decider in when he’ll be defending his IBF crown against Parker. The longer they take the better it will be for Parker because he’s still a little too green right now. Joshua has a big head start with him being an Olympic gold medalist who does a lot of things the right way. Parker needs to learn how to fine tune his skills in the same way for him to have a chance of beating Joshua.