By Scott Gilfoid: Anthony Joshua weighed in at 242 ¼ pounds on Friday for his unification fight against Joseph Parker on Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales. Parker weighed in 6 lbs. lighter than Joshua at 236 ½ lbs. for their fight at the Principality Stadium.
Joshua-Parker will be televised on Sky Box Office this Saturday in the UK. Showtime Championship Boxing will televise the Joshua vs. Parker fight starting at 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT. Those are not ideal times for the typical U.S boxing fan, so it’s unclear whether the fight will bring in big ratings in the U.S. For Joshua to start bringing in huge ratings in the U.S, he needs to fight in that country, and he needs to face guys that the American boxing fans want to see him fight. Parker is a good fighter, but he’s not who U.S fans want to see Joshua fighting.
They want him to face WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. Since that’s not happening, you can’t expect tomorrow’s fight between Joshua and Parker to bring in big viewing numbers in the States on Showtime. Joshua’s other fights that have televised in the States have been against Carlos Takam, Dominic Breazeale, Eric Molina and 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko. The Tajam, Breazeale and Molina fights were mismatches, and not thrilling to watch. Wladimir almost beat Joshua. That was a close call for Joshua. AJ was supposed to win easily, but instead he almost lost the fight.
Joshua’s weight is 12 lbs. lighter than the 254 lbs. he weighed for his last fight against Carlos Takam last October. In that fight, Joshua labored to a premature 10th round stoppage win over the 37-year-old Takam. The fight before that, Joshua weighed 250 lbs. against Wladimir Klitschko. Again, Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) was sluggish, slow and lethargic in that fight, and had the appearance and the movement of a bodybuilder rather than a boxer. Joshua’s 242 lbs. is the lowest he’s come in since his fight with journeyman Michael Sprott in November 2014. Joshua weighed 240 lbs. in that fight, and he scored a 1st round knockout.
The problem with assuming that Joshua will be better at the lower weight of 242 is the fact that he weighed 245 lbs. for his fight against Dillian Whyte in December 2015, and he still gassed out in that fight after 2 rounds. Joshua seems to have stamina problems whether he’s in the 240s or 250s. In other words, Joshua’s stamina problems could be a thing that is ingrained and unfixable. It’s still better for Joshua to come in lighter than it is for him to be in the 250s, and drifting towards Primo Carnera levels in the 260s. As it is, Joshua’s physique looks very much like the 6’5” Carnera. Joshua hasn’t gotten as heavy as Carnera, who weighed between 260 and 275 for most of his fights during his long 18-year pro career. Joshua has a little bit more speed than Carnera possessed.
A huge crowd of 80,000 fans are expected to be at the fight, which is an incredible amount for a fight that involves only one star. Parker, 26, has only held his WBO heavyweight world since 2016, and he’s only defended the strap twice in low level title defenses against Hughie Fury and Razvan Cojanu.
“Carrying around a bit of extra weight makes things difficult,” Joshua said. “I’ve been running well, training well. There’s been tough times in camp, but losing that little bit of extra weight has made things that little bit easier.”
Even when Joshua has fought in the 240s, he’s looked robotic on his feet, and not explosive like WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder or heavyweights from the past in Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. Joshua pushes his punches rather than throwing exploding shots the way Mike Tyson and Lewis did during their careers. The opposition can see Joshua’s shots coming, and they’re able to get out of the way or brace for them. That’s why Joshua doesn’t have a lot of early 1st and 2nd round knockouts on his resume. His lack of speed hurts his ability to knockout guys fast.
Parker’s weight of 236 lbs. is a good one for him, as he’s had some of his best performances of his career around that weight. Parker weighed 236 lbs. for his fight with Kali Meehan in October 2015, and he knocked him out in 3 rounds. In Parker’s fights before that, he’s weighed 237 and 235 against Bowie Tupou and Yakup Saglam, and he knocked those guys out in the 1st and 2nd rounds. That was Parker at his best. In Parker’s last three fights against Andy Ruiz Jr., Razvan Cojanu and Hughie Fury, he’s weighed in at 246, 245 and 245. Parker wasn’t nearly as impressive in those fights compared to when he was fighting in the mid-230s. What we can learn from this is Parker (25-0, 18 KOs) is a far better fighter when he’s at a lighter weight in the 235 region than Joshua is when he’s coming into his fights in the 240s. Even in the 240s, Joshua still gasses out for some reason. Whether that’s because he tenses up too much or simply a cardiovascular problem that is beyond fixing is unclear. What is clear is Joshua’s performances are as significantly improved in the 240s compared to Parker’s when he’s fighting in the 230s.
“It’s a perfect weight for the fighter I’m about to face tomorrow because he’s nimble and he’s quick,” Joshua said. ”I’ve got boxing skill and I can control him, but I think the lighter I am the more I’ll be able to match him for speed.”
We’ll see if Joshua is able to match the 26-old Parker for speed on Saturday night. What could see is if Joshua is able to land shots that bother Parker, it could turn the fight into a war. Parker will likely try and box Joshua initially in the early going to see if he can out-box him the way he did in his 12 round unanimous decision win over Takam in May 2016. If that doesn’t work for Parker, then he’ll surely switch to Plan-B, which will be the nuclear option for him. That’s the red panic button for Parker to use if things are looking bleak for him. Parker will go the nuclear option by turning the fight into an all-out war with him loading up on everything and throwing combinations to try and wear Joshua out and stop him.
If Joshua gets forced into a fast paced fight, it’s a toss-up whether he’ll win, because his stamina is just so incredibly bad. It’s one of the worst I’ve seen from a heavyweight before. Even a young George Foreman had better stamina than Joshua. If Parker causes Joshua to gas out, it’s over with for him. Parker will jump on the gassed out Joshua and finish him off the way Wladimir failed to do in their fight last April. Wladimir seemed to lose his senses completely when he had Joshua out on his feet and totally gassed out in rounds 6 through 9. Parker says he won’t make that same mistake. He plans on knocking Joshua out if he gets him tired and hurt. You have to believe Parker will look to finish the job if Joshua is dog tired on Saturday.
“I’m not worried about a decision,” Parker said. I’m here for a war. You’re going to have to give everything to beat me.”