Joseph Parker says he’s going to defeat Deontay Wilder on Saturday by knockout in their bout on ESPN & DAZN PPV in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Parker feels that his own punching power is being overlooked in this fight. He notes that everyone is talking in glowing terms about Wilder’s power but forgetting that he’s got knockout power of his that will surprise fans.
Parker has knocked out his last two opponents, albeit lower level guys and not work class. Fans would take Parker more seriously if he’d fought the opposition with a pulse in his last three fights after losing to Joe Joyce last year by a knockout.
You can’t take Parker seriously because he’s been beating scrubs the entire year. His three opponents in 2023:
Simon Kean
Faiga Opelu
Jack Massey
This is the story of Parker’s career. He steps up, gets smacked down by Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, and Joe Joyce, and then returns to scrubs where he built his career.
The former WBO heavyweight champion Parker (33-3, 23 KOs) insists that this is his time, and with the improvements he’s made with his busy year, he’ll defeat the 38-year-old Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs).
New Zealand native Parker, 31, is significantly younger than him and has been a lot more active than him. If activity is all that takes for Parker to win, his victory is assured.
Parker underestimated
“Everybody is talking about his power and how dangerous he is, but they’re forgetting what I can do in the ring. I don’t care what they say,” said Joseph Parker to Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions. “I’m going to go out and put on the performance that I can.”
Parker’s most notable wins in the last six years have been against Junior Fa, Dereck Chisora, Hughie Fury, and Răzvan Cojanu. That’s a weak bunch of fighters, which is why he’s being overlooked.
Parker has never beaten anyone good enough to suggest that he should even be ranked in the top 15, let alone in the top five. Being given a top five ranking based on wins over 40-year-old journeyman Chisora, Hughie, Fa & Cojanu isn’t fair to the heavyweights that have beaten actual quality.
“Andy [Lee] have worked very hard. We’ve had a great camp, and everything is perfect,” said Parker. Everything is at the right place and the right time. Everything is written in the stars. So everybody can say about his power and experience but it’s my time.
“I’m not happy. I just don’t care. I don’t care what people say because I know what I can do, and that’s it,” said Parker, reacting to being told that he looks happy to be overlooked for his fight with Wilder
Parker is mostly known nowadays for being Tyson Fury’s friend more than anything else, as he stopped being relevant back in 2018 when Joshua and Whyte beat him in consecutive fights.
“This is my time to shine
“It’s just another fight. Every heavyweight has power. If you land the right punch at the right time, you can knock anyone out. It’s just another fight. He’s had his time. I just feel this fight here, this is my time to shine.
“Acvitity is keep and when you’re fighting often, you’re constantly learning. There’s a lot of things that we can see in training that gives us the confidence going into this fight. As soon as they told us about this fight, we said, ‘We want this fight.
“I will take care of business. I’m not here to muck around. Knockout,” said Parker,” when asked how he’ll defeat Wilder. “Everybody is talking about his power, but we’ll see. We’ll talk about my power after the fight.”
