By Allan Fox: Eddie Hearn was amused at learning that WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker will smile after he’s hit by Anthony Joshua in their fight on March 31. Hearn says he hopes the 26-year-old Parker doesn’t smile or laugh, because he’s going to have something to worry about.
Hearn doubts that Parker has been hit by anyone with the kind of power and hand speed that Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) possess. Parker did defeat Andy Ruiz Jr., who has similar hand speed as Joshua. Parker dealt with Ruiz’s speed and won a 12 round decision in 2016 to capture the WBO heavyweight title.
Joshua and Parker will be fighting on Sky Box Office at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
It’s going to be a real test to see which of these 2 heavyweights can deal with the power better.
Joshua has a history of being hurt in fights, and he’s also been having problems in the last 3 years. Joshua has put so much muscle weight with his weightlifting since turning pro in 2013. Parker has packed on nearly as much muscle weight as Joshua has since he turned pro.
“Apparently he’s going to laugh when Anthony Joshua hits him on the chin. I hope he doesn’t,” said Hearn to skysports.com. They say he’s got a granite chin, but he’s never been hit with the ferocity and speed of Anthony Joshua.”
Parker will have to try and knock Joshua out for him to win the fight. He’s probably not going to get a decision win over the 28-year-old Joshua. The fight taking place in Cardiff, Wales, and that means that most of the 78,000 boxing fans that will likely be in attendance on March 31 will be Joshua’s fans. If it goes to the scorecards, it will be hard for Parker to win unless he somehow is able to tire Joshua out and knock him down like Wladimir Klitschko did.
Parker needs to make sure he finishes the job on Joshua if he gets him hurt. Leaving him out there to recover would be a bad idea, because the crowd will be on his side in the fight. Joshua will be able to come back at some point in the fight if he’s cheered by the fans at the Principality Stadium. It would be smarter for Parker to empty his own tank while training to finish off Joshua. If Parker lands enough shots, he could knock him out and put himself in the position to get a big money rematch.
“If he does, I think we’ve got something to worry about, because when Anthony Joshua hits you on the chin, I don’t think laughing is one thing you’ll be doing,” said Hearn.
Parker knows what he needs to do for him to beat Joshua. It’ll be a matter of whether he has the talent and courage to try and follow the blueprint created by Wladimir and Dillian Whyte in how to beat Joshua.