Joseph Parker’s promoter, David Higgins, says he’s “earned” the opportunity to fight Anthony Joshua next following his one-sided victory over former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Saudi Arabia last December.
Higgins, however, suspects that the former two-time champion Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) may choose not to take the fight with Parker (34-3, 24 KOs) due to the “high risk” involved.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, revealed his shortlist of opponents that he and the Saudis are considering for AJ’s next fight in March, and Parker’s name was NOT on it.
Hearn’s shortlist. Parker left out
– Agit Kabayel
– Francis Ngannou
– Filip Hrgovic
– Zhilei Zhang
AJ had planned on fighting Wilder next on March 9th in Saudi Arabia, but Parker ruined that by defeating the Bronze Bomber. In hindsight, it was foolish for Wilder to face a boxer/puncher like Parker, given the huge fight he had in front of him with AJ and with him coming off a 14-month layoff.
You can say that Wilder & his management dropped the ball by agreeing to use Parker as the opponent. Hearn was smarter by using Otto Wallin as Joshua’s opponent, as he had no power and was slow as all get up. He made AJ look like the fighter he once was, which was hard to do because he’s clearly past it at 34.
Parker wrecked plans for a long-awaited showdown between Joshua and Deontay Wilder in 2024 as he sealed a unanimous decision win over the American in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
No fan interest in Joshua vs. Parker rematch
“Joseph has earned that fight, and the Saudis would see merit in Parker against Anthony Joshua,” said David Higgins to Sky Sports about his belief that Joseph Parker deserves to fight Anthony Joshua next.
Joshua beat Parker by a dull twelve round unanimous decision in 2018 in a fight that wasn’t competitive. Parker fought in the same cautious manner that he did against Wilder, but Joshua threw punches, and that was the difference.
If Wilder had let his hands go, he likely would have beaten Parker as well, but he’s not the fighter he once was at 38, fighting just one round in the last two years since losing to Tyson Fury in 2021.
There wouldn’t be any fan interest in a Joshua vs. Parker rematch, and the Saudis likely won’t want to put that fight on in their country, knowing that it’s not an appealing clash.
“Joseph, especially after how he handled his business with Wilder, is probably seen as high risk,” Higgins continued. “We’ll fight Anthony Joshua in a heartbeat.
Did Parker’s win prove anything?
Wilder was shot to pieces, so what Parker did was nothing special. Any heavyweight ranked in the top 15 would have done the same thing to Deontay but likely looked a lot better by knocking him out.
Wilder was never a good heavyweight to begin with, but he’s lost a lot from his game by being inactive since his loss to Fury in 2021. Fighting just one round in two years, there’s no way that Deontay could stay sharp.
Parker should fight Zhilei Zhang
If Parker wants to show that he’s worthy of a fight with Joshua, he needs to defeat one of the top contenders that aren’t over-the-hill. He should fight Zhilei Zhang and see if his cat & mouse style will work against him. This writer sees Parker getting blasted out by Zhang, but that’s the type of win he needs if he wants to get a rematch with Joshua.
“It was the best performance of Joseph’s career [beating 38-year-old Wilder]. He’s got some momentum going, so the intent is to continue. We don’t want to step backward to weaker opponents. We want to keep the level up and keep busy,” said Higgins.
Parker needs to try avenging his losses to Joe Joyce or Dillian Whyte rather than wasting his time attempting to get a rematch with Joshua. These would be other good options for Parker’s next fight:
- Martin Bakole
- Zhilei Zhang
- Jared Anderson
- Frank Sanchez
- Filip Hrgovic
