By Scott Gilfoid: It looks like Joseph Parker (21-0, 18 KOs) will be fighting for the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title in his next fight rather than the IBF strap, which means he’ll either be fighting Andy Ruiz Jr. or Wladimir Klitschko next. Parker looked spectacular last Saturday night in obliterating Alexander Dimitrenko (38-3, 24 KOs) in three rounds in New Zealand.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter for IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, is trying to put together a fight between Joshua and Klitschko. But in doing so, Hearn has left Parker sitting and waiting to see what will happen with that fight. However, Parker and his promoter Dean Lonergan are not going to wait.
They’re now interested in fighting for the WBO belt against Ruiz Jr. and they have a 95 percent chance of that fight taking place for that title. If Hearn isn’t able to get Klitschko for Joshua’s next fight on November 26, then he’ll leave his fighter Joshua empty-handed. Joshua won’t have a fight against Wladimir OR Joshua. As such, we might see Joshua fight someone like David Price. Talk about a major letdown.
“Since Eddie is trying to secure Wladimir Klitschko to fight Anthony Joshua, we’re not going to sit down here on our hands,” Parker’s promoter Lonergan said to skysports.com. “We’re going to pursue what we think is the best option for Joseph Parker. Right now, the way the cards are falling, Joseph Parker versus Andy Ruiz Jr for the WBO world title is the best opportunity we can see.”
I hope for Hearn’s sake that he can get the Klitschko fight for Joshua, because if he misses out on that one, then he’ll be left without a real option for Joshua’s November 26 fight. It would be sad news for British boxing fans if Hearn trots out the 6’8” Price for Joshua to fight on November 26 on Sky Box Office pay-per-view from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
I’m not a fortune teller, but my guess is the fans won’t be entirely too pleased with watching Joshua fight Price when they thought they were going to see him fight Klitschko or Parker. It might be better off for Hearn to scrap the plans for the Joshua-Klitschko fight and instead put his energy into negotiating a fight between Joshua and Parker while the option is still there.
At least Joshua vs. Parker is a sellable fight on Sky Box Office. How in the heck will Hearn be able to sell a dreadful mismatch between Joshua and Price if he can’t get the Klitschko fight for him? I just see this whole thing blowing up in the face of Hearn with him failing to get Klitschko and then losing the Parker fight because of all the time he’s spending trying to get Klitschko.
Parker is rated No.1 by the WBO, Ruiz Jr. No.3 and Wladimir No.2. If Wladimir wants the fight for the WBO belt, he can certainly get it. If Hearn is flapping his gums by talking about wanting too big of a cut of the revenue for a Joshua-Klitschko fight, then we can expect Wladimir to say, ‘forget this. I’ll go and fight Parker instead for the WBO title.’ Parker vs. Wladimir would be a big fight in Germany or New Zealand.
“We have agreed we can do the fight in New Zealand, we have agreed on a date and we’re pretty close on getting the money down,” said Lonergan about the Parker vs. Ruiz Jr. fight. “It’s just a case of waiting for Tyson Fury to be stripped and waiting for Eddie to make that deal with Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko.”
You can expect the WBO to strip Fury soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens this week. Lonergan can then finish up with the negotiations for the Parker vs. Ruiz Jr. fight for this year in New Zealand. It would be a big fight over there, and it will give Parker the chance to win the WBO title. Once Parker becomes the WBO heavyweight champion, he can either defend it against all comers, or look to make a unification match against Joshua for his IBF title, or face WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Parker could do pretty much anything if he wins the WBO title. He could even fight David Haye if that’s a fight that would sell. Personally, I think Parker would be better off waiting for Haye to prove himself against a good heavyweight before he faces him. Haye has only fought twice since making his comeback in 2016 in beating a couple of obscure bottom ranked heavyweight contenders. Parker would be better off waiting for Haye to beat a live body before throwing a bone to him. I think it would send the wrong message to boxing fans if Parker were to give Haye a title shot off the back of his wins over fodder opponents instead of highly ranked talents. Haye should at least have to beat someone like Luis Ortiz before getting a title shot. I wish Haye a lot of luck trying to beat Ortiz.
Ruiz Jr. is a very beatable fighter, and I can’t see him giving Parker any problems whatsoever. It’s a mismatch. Parker is fighting at a much higher level than Ruiz fight now. That’s not to say that Ruiz Jr. doesn’t have a chance against Parker. Ruiz, 28, has looked good in his last three fights in beating Franklin Lawrence, Josh Gormley and Ray Austin. Ruiz stopped Austin and Gormley. Ruiz looked very powerful in both of those fights. the only thing that he was missing was his punching power.