By Jim Dower: Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) doesn’t want his next opponent to be a low level fighter for his next defense of his WBO heavyweight title in New Zealand. With a big money unification fight against IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on the horizon for next year, it’s not likely that Parker’s promoter is going to match him against someone that is a real threat to beating him from the WBO’s top 15.
The 25-year-old Parker has already defended his World Boxing Organization title twice against arguably poor opponents in Hughie Fury and Razvan Cojanu. Parker’s fight against Hughie last month on September 23 was an all-time low, as Hughie spent the entire fight trying to elude Parker by running around the ring, and tying him up each time he would cut off the ring to initiate action. Hughie clearly didn’t belong inside the ring with Parker. Hughie looked a young kid with no boxing ability inside the ring with a professional fighter. After that experience, you can understand fully why Parker wants his promoter David Higgins to pick someone good for him to fight.
Parker will end up fighting one of the top 15 contenders in the WBO’s ranking. These are several of the opponents that would be ideal for Parker: Kyotaro Fujimoto, Alexander Povetkin and former WBA heavyweight champion Lucas Browne. However, Povetkin is expected to be fighting in a WBO title eliminator soon against Christian Hammer. Browne is being talked about fighting in late November, so he’s not an option.
“There is a big possibility that it could be in New Zealand but there is also a big possibility that we could be fighting in the UK,” said Parker to the nzherald.co.nz. “We’re still negotiation with Eddie Hearn’s team [the promoter of Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte and Tony Bellew] and with other fighters. I just want to fight big fights – fights that people want to watch.”
Eddie Hearn would love to match one of his Matchroom Sport fighters Dillian Whyte or Tony Bellew against Joseph Parker. That would be a fight that gives those two fighters a chance to take Parker’s WBO title.
Even if Parker beats them, it would make the Joshua-Parker fight a bigger affair than it would be if Parker faces another poor opponent in the same class as his two previous title defenses.
Parker says it’s going to be a top 15 guy. These are the current top 15 fighters:
1. Christian Hammer
2. Tom Schwarz
3. Dominic Breazeale
4. Jarrell Miller
5. Dillian Whyte
6. Alexander Povetkin
7. Kyotaro Fujimoto
8. Zhilei Zhang
9. Carlos Takam
10. Hughie Fury
11. Agit Kabayel
12. Otto Wallin
13. Amir Mansour
14. Luis Ortiz
15. Andy Ruiz
Fujimoto likely isn’t well-known in New Zealand. If Parker wants someone that his boxing fans in New Zealand has heard of, then he’s going to need to stay away from fighting guys like Fujimoto, Wallin, Kabayel and Zhang. Jarrell Miller and Breazeale would probably be too tough for Parker to face in a voluntary defense. The same goes for Ruiz and Ortiz. There’s really not much to choose from for Parker other than someone that his New Zealand boxing fans have never heard of like Fujimoto. It’s either someone like him or a dangerous opponent, and I don’t think Parker wants someone that could potentially beat him.