by Scott Gilfoid: WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker’s co-promoter Bob Arum says he’s close to having a deal done for Parker’s first defense of his title against #2 WBO Hughie Fury for April 1 or 8 in New Zealand. Hughie, 22, hasn’t done much to deserve getting a title shot against Parker, and he’s done less to get ranked No.2 in the World Boxing Organization’s top 15 ranking. Of course, Hughie is the nephew of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Parker, 24, isn’t going to argue with the WBO ranking the light hitting 6’6” Hughie so highly, as it gives him the chance of making an easy first defense of his title without worrying too much about getting beaten.
“We’re close to a deal,” Arum said to ESPN.com about the Parker vs. Hughie deal.
The appeal for Parker in defending against Hughie Fury is that if he whips the 22-year-old really badly, then it could get Tyson Fury away from couch to get him to start training again and losing all the weight that he’s put on since he last fought in November 2015. Fury might get p in arms if he sees Hughie knocked out by Parker. You know how that goes.
In picking Hughie for Parker to fight, Arum is ensuring that his New Zealand born fighter wins the fight without too many problems. Hughie is not ready for the big time in my estimation, and I’m not sure he ever will unless he develops some punching power along the way somewhere.
Hughie’s fan base would argue that Tyson Fury did alright despite not having any real punching power. It’s a different situation with the 6’9” Tyson. He’s taller than Hughie, has long reach, and he’s more experienced as a pro. Before Tyson slapped his way to a very close 12 round decision over 40-year-old past his best Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, he’d twice fought Dereck Chisora, and beaten the likes of Steve Cunningham and Christian Hammer.
Tyson Fury had more experience under his belt when he challenged for a world title against the 6’6” Wladimir. Moreover, Fury had the perfect opponent in Wladimir, who at that point in his career could no longer land his right hands due to his age. Look at Wladimir’s previous fight against Bryant Jennings and compare it to 10 years previous when he was in his prime. Wladimir had the youth and accuracy to land his right hands.
When Wladimir fought Fury, he literally couldn’t hit the side of the barn with his right hands. Even Wladimir’s jab was inaccurate. As I watched the Klitschko vs. Fury fight, I was wondering if Wladimir’s eyesight had deteriorated, because he couldn’t even land simple jabs. Fury was there to be hit with jabs, but Wladimir just looked old. As such, Fury won the fight, but he won based on Wladimir being old rather than on anything he did that was special. Had Fury been fighting someone in their prime like Alexander Povetkin, Kubrat Pulev Deontay Wilder, Luis Ortiz or Anthony Joshua, I think he would have been knocked out in short order.
I hate to say it, but I don’t see Hughie as having the talent, experience or the punching power to compete with the 6’4” Parker right now. If Hughie were to develop for another six more years, then maybe he might be able to compete against the best. Hughie needs the experience, and he needs to hit the weight room to develop some upper body strength, because he still hasn’t found his man strength yet. I’m not too high on Parker, 24, after the way he performed in his last fight against Andy Ruiz Jr. last December, but he can punch when he’s not fighting timidly like he did against Ruiz Jr. and Carlos Takam. When Parker is sitting down on his punches, he’s more than a handful for anyone in the division. Parker has world punching power. Parker’s boxing skills and experience is clearly lacking though. He needs a lot of development as well. He’s not someone who is coming out of the starting blocks the finished product the way that Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko both were. Those were Olympic gold medalists, and they had a lot of experience.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes $15 million offer to Conor McGregor
Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants to fight Conor McGregor, and he’s now putting his money where his mouth is by offering the Irish fighter $15 million. Mayweather, 39, doesn’t expect McGregor to take the fight, because he knows he’s got bosses at the UFC that won’t let him take the fight. But he’s willing to give him $15 million, which would be a considerable bump up in cash from the money that the 28-year-old McGregor has been making in his fights in the octagon.
This would be a boxing fight if it takes place. It wouldn’t be under MMA rules, because it takes too much time for a fighter to learn how to fight like that. McGregor is considered by a lot of fans to have the best boxing skills of any fighter in the UFC. If that’s the case, then it shouldn’t be too hard for him to share the ring with Mayweather in a PPV event.
Mayweather said this to ESPN.com about him wanting to fight McGregor next:
“I’m an old man now, so I’m smart,” said Mayweather. “The best business move for me is Conor McGregor. That’s what the world wants to see.”
Mayweather will be 40 in February and he would need to be careful if he returned to boxing and resumed fighting in the 147lb division. One big problem Mayweather would have if he returned to the sport would be the fans wanting him to fight the winner of the March 4th Danny Garcia vs. Keith Thurman fight. Thurman is seen by many as the guy that will have his hand raised in that fight.
If Mayweather were to come back and fight someone like Danny Garcia or Manny Pacquiao, the fans wouldn’t understand that move, because Garcia will have been beaten and Pacquiao seems to be no longer facing the best talent. His promoter Bob Arum is matching him against arguably the weaker top fighters in the division like Jeff Horn, Tim Bradley and Jessie Vargas. He’s not putting Pacquiao in with the dangerous guys like Keith Thurman or Errol Spence.
“Conor McGregor, I want to tell everybody this right now: Do he want to fight? Absolutely not,” Mayweather said. “I’m trying to see if he really wants to fight. But we can’t make the fight happen because he’s got his own boss [in UFC president Dana White].”
I don’t know why Mayweather is putting himself and the boxing fans though this constant talk of him fighting McGregor. It’s not going to happen. Mayweather should get a clue, and be realistic about the guys that he’s calling out. If you know there’s no chance of getting a fight against someone due to them competing in a different sport and being under contract with an organization, then it’s fruitless to call them out. Mayweather might as well be calling out a pro bowler or a tennis player, because he’s got about as much chance of fighting one of them inside the ring as he does McGregor in my view.