By Dan Ambrose: Using his 35-pound weight advantage, Joseph Parker overpowered Shawndell Winters in beating him by a fifth-round knockout in a competitive contest last Saturday night. Parker and Winters were part of the Mikey Garcia vs. Jessie Vargas undercard on DAZN at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Parker (27-2, 21 KOs) knocked Winters (13-2, 12 KOs) down twice in the fight in rounds 3 and 5. The fight was stopped in the 5th after Parker dropped the 39-year-old Winter.
Parker had a small target in Winters
Winters stood in front of Parker and paid the price in getting planted on the canvas after eating a right hand in round 3. In the 4th, Winters came back to hurt Parker with a big right hand in the closing seconds. Parker left himself open, and Winters capitalized on it by nailing the New Zealand fighter with a hard right that hurt him.
The victory for the 28-year-old Parker kept him in position to potentially face Oleksandr Usyk in late 2020 for the vacant WBO heavyweight title. That title is currently held by Anthony Joshua, but he could vacate if he faces WBC champion, Tyson Fury, in a unification match. But in the meantime, Parker is interested in facing Dereck Chisora or Dillian Whyte if possible.
Parker picked up his third consecutive win since losing to Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua in 2018.
There’s some good and bad to take away from this fight for Parker. On the positive side, he got another win under his belt and finished with a knockout. But on the negative side, Parker was hurt by the much lighter and older 208-lb Winters, and that’s not a good takeaway from the fight.
With Parker wanting to take on the likes of Chisora, Whyte, Anthony Joshua Fury, it’s troubling that he was hurt by Winters, who isn’t ranked in the top 15.
Joseph Parker wanted to box Winters initially
“It’s always good to go in there, let your hands go and finish off with a knockout,” said Parker to IFL TV in reflecting on his win over Winters. “It’s exciting to be in the ring, letting my hands go. In the training, we practice patience, sitting down on your punches. But things change when you get under those lights.
“The plan was to go in there and box him,” said Parker. “When I was using my reach and my jab, I was landing all the time. But in the excitement, I was getting in too close, throwing punches that weren’t really meaning a lot, and I did want to get him out of there. I’ve been working on my jab.
“I didn’t display it as much as I wanted but in future fights, I’ll show what my jab can do. Any of those names would be good for us,” said Parker when asked about a fight between him and Dillian Whyte, Dereck Chisora, Anthony Joshua or Kubrat Pulev.
Parker was there to be hit in the fight by Winters, and it’s not unexpected that he was drawn into a firefight. In Parker’s fights against Andy Ruiz Jr. and Carlos Takam, he boxed and moved for 12 rounds to win decisions.
He didn’t do that against Winters. He might not have respected the threat that he represented, and he almost paid a steep price for his carelessness. As we saw last Saturday night, even the seemingly lesser heavyweights are capable of doing damage.
Last year, Winters pulled off a big upset in knocking out the prospect Oleksandr Teslenko in the 5th round. That right there should have been enough warning for Parker to take him as a serious threat, but he thought he could run him over.
Parker wants Chisora or Whyte next
“This is a good start for the year and hopefully we can make a big fight happen next. My team will sit down and decide what the best option is for us. If it’s a fight that Eddie is interested in making. I would love to be in the UK to set up a big fight,” said Parker about him wanting to fight Whyte. “Chisora, Dillian or anyone in the UK,” said Parker.
“I was excited for the Chisora fight,” Parker continued. “It didn’t happen and he got a good win over Price. I’d try and reschedule the fight. I’d love to fight him, and I think I’d be too quick for him. I won’t get sucked into a brawl, because he’s a brawler.
“Either him or Dillian Whyte. If Dillian Whyte can’t get a world title fight, that he’s been waiting a long time for, then let’s do it again because it was an exciting fight,” said Parker.
It’s doubtful that Parker will get Whyte to give him a rematch because he’s in line for a world title shot in February for the WBC belt. Chisora is facing Oleksandr Usyk next, and he’ll likely be looking to rebuild if/when he loses that fight. Parker’s best bet for a big fight is later this year against Usyk if the WBO belt falls vacant.