By Dan Ambrose: Having recovered from a spider bite, Joseph Parker’s manager Dave Higgins wants to get him back in action as soon as possible for the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz 2 rematch on December 7 in Saudi Arabia.
The hope is that Higgins can reschedule a fight between Parker (26-2, 20 KOs) and Dereck Chisora (31-9, 22 KOs) for the Saudi Arabia card on DAZN and Sky Sports Box Office. Parker, 27, had his scheduled October 26 fight against Chisora wiped out after he suffered a spider bite that weakened him, and made it impossible to face him on that date.
Some boxing fans don’t believe that Parker was bitten by a spider. They think he got cold feet about fighting 35-year-old Chisora, so he decided he didn’t want it.
Chisora must beat Price to potentially face Parker
Parker still wants to fight Chisora, as long as he gets through his contest against David Price on October 26. Price (25-6, 20 KOs) is stepping up to the plate to fight Chisora on the undercard of Regis Prograis vs. Josh Taylor on Sky Box Office at the O2 Arena in London, England. Chisora is expected to beat Price, but he’ll need to get through the match without suffering any injuries for him to be able to potentially face Parker on December 7.
Parker waiting to find out if he’ll be on Saudi card
“It depends on how quickly Chisora can turnaround and whether Eddie Hearn or Frank Smith can pull some strings and get us on New York or Saudi Arabia,” said Higgins to skysports.com about Parker. “It would be a shame if Joseph had to sit out for eight months, but we remain hopeful…He’s sort of waiting. He is ready and willing, but hey, if not, we must be philosophical.”
What Parker doesn’t want it to be out of action for eight months without fighting someone. His last fight was against 39-year-old Alex Leapai last June, and that wasn’t a competitive bout. Parker toyed with former world title challenger Leapai until stopping him in the 10th round.
Parker’s last quality opponent was Dillian Whyte, who beat him by a 12 round decision last year in July 2018. That was a close fight that could have gone Parker’s way if he’s been more aggressive. He let Whyte control the rounds, and he didn’t do much until the 12th in dropping Dillian.
Parker needs a win over a good opponent
Since losing consecutive fights against Anthony Joshua and Whyte, Parker has won his last two contests against lower level opponents Alexander Flores and Leapai. What Parker needs now is a contender for him to beat so that he can get pushed up to #1 in the rankings.
It’s unlikely that the winner of the Joshua vs. Ruiz 2 rematch will give Parker a title shot unless he beats someone with a name. Wins over Flores and Leapai aren’t impressive enough for Parker to be seen as a viable option for the Joshua-Ruiz winner. Chisora is rated #9 with the World Boxing Council, and he would be a good enough name for Parker to get a quick title shot if he can beat him.
Hearn has other heavyweights that he can match against Parker if Chisora can’t make a quick turnaround. Filip Hrgovic, Oleksandr Usyk, Whyte or Michael Hunter would be excellent opponents for Parker.