By Mike Smith: Former WBO heavyweight belt holder Joseph Parker (25-2, 19 KOs) quickly smashed his 2nd tier opponent Alexander Flores (17-2, 15 KOs) by a 3rd round knockout on Saturday night to end his 2-fight losing streak at the Horncastle Arena in Christchurch, New Zealand. The time of the stoppage was at 2:51 of round 3. Vowing to be a tougher, rougher, meaner heavyweight, Parker came out on fire tonight, landing punches with full power on them against an over-matched Flores, and not backing off and playing the finesse game that the boxing fans had grown accustomed to seeing from him.
Parker did a good job of working the body of Flores from start to finish. One of Parker’s shots strayed low, but most of them were on target above the belt line.
In the 3rd round, Parker landed a scorching right hand missile to the head of the 28-year-old Flores that bowled him over. Flores was none too happy after he got back to his feet. Parker then unloaded with a storm of shots that led to the fight being halted.
The win for Parker, 26, keeps his hopes alive for a future rematch against Dillian ‘The Body snatcher’ Whyte, who he lost to by a controversial 12 round unanimous decision last summer on July 28 in London, England. The defeat by Parker was his second in a row after having lost to IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in his previous encounter in the UK on March 31 in Cardiff, Wales. That was a fight in which Parker was kept apart from Joshua by the referee, who looked like he was a little unclear on the rules of boxing. The referee appeared not to know that fighters are allowed to fight on the inside. The referee inadvertently helped Joshua win on the night by pulling Parker away each time he got near enough to throw a punch. With the referee stopping Parker from fighting in close, Joshua, with his height and reach advantage, was able to comfortably control the fight from the outside.
“I would love to. Listen, my hand is up for it,” Parker said to Sky Sports about a rematch with Whyte. “Hopefully he can take care of business and fight the fights that he wants, and then when he’s ready, let’s get it on.”
If a rematch between Parker and Whyte is to happen in 2019, it’s likely that it’ll need to wait until after Dillian faces Joshua in a rematch on April 13 or later in the year. It’ll depend on how long Joshua wants to wait until giving Whyte his rematch. Whyte isn’t likely going to want to take a risky fight with Parker until after he gets his big payday fight against Joshua. Whyte is facing Dereck Chisora on December 22 of this month, but that’s a different type of guys. Chisora is slow, throws wide punches, and is a more beatable fighter for Whyte than Parker.
In the co-feature bout on the Parker vs. Flores card, unbeaten heavyweight contender Junior Fa (16-0, 9 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a 1st round knockout of journeyman Rogelio Omar Rossi (20-7-1, 13 KOs). It was a good win for Fa. He needs to step it up though against someone far better than the guys he’s been fighting. Parker would be a good option for Fa if he’s willing to take a stern test this early in his career.