By Tim Royner: Joseph Parker’s promoter David Higgins will be traveling to England on Monday to meet with Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn to seal the deal for a unification fight against IBF, WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on March 31 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. That’s a large stadium that seats 78,000 fans. Joshua recently fought at that venue for his last fight against Carlos Takam on October 28.
“Things are on track. Eddie and I have discussed me boarding a flight tomorrow, that’s the current plan,” said Higgins to stuff.co.nz.
Parker will be getting a payday of $12 million for the fight, with the potential of getting a 55/45 cut of the revenue in a rematch if he beats Joshua. The $12 million a large enough payday, but the potential is there for the 25-year-old Parker to make a tremendous amount of money if he can beat Joshua on March 31. Like a lot of fighters that face Joshua, Parker has a puncher’s chance of winning.
Parker will be a clear underdog in this fight, there’s no doubt about that. Joshua, 28, is the favorite in the fight. That doesn’t mean it’s a given that the 6’5” Joshua will beat Parker. Joshua is not looking like the invincible champion that he once was. 41-year-old inactive heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko almost beat Joshua last April, and Carlos Takam had him gasping for breath last October. If those 2 fights are indicative of what we’re going to be seeing from Joshua in future performances, you would have to conclude that Parker has a decent chance of beating him.
“If we can make a deal and get the contract signed then Joe will probably fly midweek,” Higgins said.
The Joshua-Parker fight could be announced by midweek if they can get the contract signed. The purse split has already been agreed on by Parker’s team. The contract numbers are said to be similar to that of Wladimir Klitschko’s for his fight with Joshua last April. Parker is getting a good deal as the WBO heavyweight champion. If he can beat Joshua, the rematch will see him get a big bump up in pay. Parker just has to figure out a way to defeat the bigger, stronger and younger Joshua. It’s easier said than done.
Early part of the negotiations between Joshua and Parker’s management were difficult to say the least. It appeared at times like Duco Boxing and Matchroom Sport wouldn’t be able to come up with a deal to make the fight happen. Finally cooler heads prevailed and the two sides were able to come to an agreement. If Joshua didn’t care so much about winning all the heavyweight titles, he probably would have given up on the negotiations. Joshua wants the WBO belt that Parker is holding onto. It’ll be a major shocker if Parker unseats Joshua as the IBF/WBA heavyweight title. It might be a good thing for Joshua temporarily, considering his next fight would also surely bring in a lot of pay-per-view buys on Sky Box Office. Joshua obviously has no intention of losing to Parker or to anyone, but things happen in boxing. Parker might get lucky and KO Joshua. If that happens, it’s good to know that it won’t end badly for Joshua, as long as he’s able to bounce back from the defeat.