By Charles Brun: Joseph Parker can forget about a rematch with Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte, because that’s not happening. Whyte (26-2, 20 KOs) says he sees no point in taking his career backwards to fight a guy that he already beat.
Provided that Whyte beats Oscar Rivas this month on July 20th, He has other things he wants to do with his career such as fighting WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, and then going after the winner of the Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua. There’s also Tyson Fury out there that Whyte would be interested in fighting. Parker is low on the list of guys that Whyte wants to face.
Whyte: Parker is not in my plans
“Parker was never in my plans,” Whyte said to skysports.com. “I beat him already, so why would he be in my plans? Someone I’ve beaten already. It makes no sense. He wants me to be in his plans, but he’s not in my plans.”
Last Saturday night, former WBO heavyweight champion Parker (26-2, 20 KOs) defeated 39-year-old former world title challenger Alex Leapai (32-8-4, 26 KOs) by a 10th round stoppage on the undercard of Demetrius Andrade vs. Maciej Sulecki on DAZN in Providence, Rhode Island. Whyte wasn’t impressed with Parker’s performance against Leapai, who felt was less of a threat than a heavy bag.
Dillian wants WBC to give a date for when he can challenge Wilder
Whyte is hoping that the World Boxing Council will give a date for when he’ll be able to fight WBC champion Wilder for the title. That’s Whyte and his promoter Eddie Hearn’s immediate goal, and there’s a good chance that’ll happen. Whyte (25-1, 18 KOs) must beat the undefeated Rivas (26-0, 18 KOs) this month on July 20, and then wait for the WBC to order the Wilder fight. The WBC hasn’t yet announced the resolution for Whyte based on his request for his fight with Rivas be a final eliminator as well as for the WBC interim title. Whyte feels he should have been made the mandatory for Wilder a long time ago.
Whyte and Parker share the same promoter
Parker recently inked a deal with Matchroom Boxing USA to fight for Eddie Hearn. With Parker and Whyte with the same promotional company now, it would be easy for a rematch between them to be put together. Whyte has other ideas. He wants the bigger money fights against Wilder, Joshua, Ruiz Jr. and Tyson Fury. You can’t blame Whyte for wanting those guys of fights, especially given the poor opposition Parker is facing right now. Parker should have never agreed to fight Leapai, because that guy is too far below him in terms of talent. It was a fight that Parker had nothing to gain in taking, and it made him look bad.
Parker needs to turn his career around
The New Zealand fighter Parker has two defeats in his last four fights, and he needs to starting quality guys instead of lesser fighters like Leapai. Parker is 27, and the only notable win on his resume is a controversial 12 round decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2016.