By Scott Gilfoid: WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker is already looking past IBF/WBA champion Anthony Joshua for a mouth-watering match against Tyson Fury in the near future once the 6’9” former unified world champion returns to action.
Fury recently said he would bet on Parker to beat Joshua when/if that fight takes place in the near future. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn could make it difficult for the Joshua-Parker fight to take place if he chooses not to give the New Zealand native the deal that he’s asking for. Parker wants 35 to 40 percent of the revenue for the fight. If Hearn chooses to low ball Parker, then the fight won’t happen. Joshua will need to be satisfied with just being the IBF/WBA champion rather than getting a shot at adding the WBO strap to his collection.
Fury needs to be cleared by the UK Anti-Doping hearing, and he needs to lose weight before a fight between him and Parker can come to fruition.
“If it makes sense for both of us, and it’s something that we both want, then we can make it happen,” said Parker to skysports.com. “He’s a true champion that I respect, but I respect myself and what I can do in the ring. If it makes sense for us both, there is no reason why we shouldn’t get it on.”
Parker has a chance to emerge as the top dog in the heavyweight division by the time the smoke clears. I wouldn’t say that Parker has a good chance of becoming the No.1 heavyweight, but his punching power will give him a shot against any of the top guys in the division.
Tyson Fury needs to make sure he’s taken a few tune-ups before he faces Parker. It wouldn’t go well for Fury against a slugger like Parker if he’s not at 100 percent. Fury lucked out against Wladimir Klitschko in his last fight, as the Ukrainian looked mentally tied in knots. Wladimir didn’t even try and throw punches in that fight for some reason. Parker isn’t that type of fighter. His trainer won’t have to coax Parker to let his hands go against Fury. He’ll instinctively be looking to KO him from the 1st round.
If Fury beats Joshua in 2018, it would be a good transition to go from him to Parker. That would give Fury an opportunity to win back his WBO title that he lost when he opted to vacate the belt last year in October. It would be a huge positive to Fury’s boxing career if he can beat Joshua and Parker to capture the IBF, WBA and WBO titles. That would setup a big money unification fight between Fury and WBC champion Deontay Wilder. Of course, it’s unlikely to work out like this, as Joshua is interested in fighting Wilder by the summer of next year. They’re talking about having 2 fights between them.
It’s likely that the contract language will leave each of them a way out of the contract if the first fight is a blowout. The boxing public likely won’t be interested in seeing a second Joshua-Wilder fight if Wilder smashes Joshua in a 1st round knockout. Joshua would need to move on and try and rebuild his career if he loses in that manner.