By Tim Royner: Undefeated WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) says he wants all the belts in the division, and he would knockout WBC champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) and IBF/WBA champ Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) if he can get fights against them.
All 3 heavyweights sport unbeaten records, and the boxing fans will be in for some excellent fights if they take place in 2018.
Parker and Joshua are currently in negotiations for a fight in early 2018. Parker and his promoter David Higgins said recently that they want a 60-40 deal with Joshua. However, Parker has changed his asking price and is now saying he would accept a 65-35 deal if he can’t get the 60-40 split that he desires. It’s unclear what Parker’s promoter Higgins feels about him making statements like this to the public, because it potentially undermines his position to negotiate a better deal for him.
“Now I have the WBO, I want the WBC. I want the IBF. I want the WBA. AJ (Joshua) is a fighter who is champion of the world,” said Parker to Fight News.” My goal is to unify. My goal is to grab his belts and to say that I am the real champion. I don’t think I would have problems knocking them [Joshua or Wilder] out.”
Parker, 25, is going to need to fight a lot better than he did against Hughie Fury if he wants to beat the likes of Joshua and Wilder. The way that Parker looked against Hughie last September, he won’t make it against either champion in a unification fight.
Parker may end up having to settle for a Plan-C option of fighting the likes of Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne if he’s unable to line up a fight against Joshua or Wilder. The Joshua fight is the one that Parker wants next, because that’s the biggest payday for him.
If Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn isn’t willing to pay him the 35-40 percent cut that he wants, then he’ll need to look to fight Wilder. The money fight that fight will likely be considerably less than what Parker will make fighting Joshua. Even if Parker takes 30 percent cut of the revenue for a fight with Joshua, it’s still likely more than what he’d receive fighting Wilder.
Parker feels he hasn’t been given the respect he should have for being a world champion. The reason why Parker hasn’t received the respect that he would normally deserve to receive as a heavyweight world champion is the fact that he’s not fought anyone of note yet during his career. Parker beat Andy Ruiz to win the World Boxing Organization title. In Parker’s title defenses, he’s beaten Razvan Cojanu and Hughie Fury. Those aren’t great fighters.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the respect of being a world champion, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” Parker said. “I feel as a world champion I have achieved something incredible in our country and am very happy with what I have achieved. But I don’t think I get the respect.