Joseph Parker vs Andy Ruiz/A Complicated Heavyweight Division Slowly Sorting Itself Out
It would have been easier without all the shenanigans, leaving Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker free to fight off for the IBF world title belt in peace. A few months ago we even had reason to think we could be expecting that one before the end of 2016. But no, this is boxing and weird things happen. Outsiders get involved and interests clash.
It began with Tyson Fury repeatedly delaying his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko to the point where he ended up having to take time out of the sport altogether. That freed up Wlad and talks were that Anthony Joshua would take that fight, further delaying Parker’s mandatory challenge (which won’t be forced for a few months, so no dramas). Fury was stripped of his belts which made the Joshua-Klitschko thing even more enticing… but it also meant that Parker, as well as being the top ranked challenger for Joshua’s IBF belt, was also the top ranked fighter for the vacant WBO belt.
That gave Parker and his team options. There were now two direct routes to a belt and Andy Ruiz quickly emerged as a willing contender for that WBO decider. All was dependant on Fury losing his belts but once that happened, things moved quickly and rumours that the Joshua-Klitschko talks falling apart didn’t stop the WBO from ordering Parker to take on Ruiz for their vacant title, decided on at a meeting at the organisation’s annual convention in Puerto Rico – which Dean Lonergan was in attendance at. Lonergan met with Bob Arum (of Top Rank, who represents Ruiz) in Los Angeles before the convention and agreements were signed on the supposition that the WBO would call it into action. Which they did.
So Joseph Parker will fight Andy Ruiz for the vacant title on December 10 in Auckland. They chose Auckland because the bout will make more cash in NZ, which is backed up by the fact that it isn’t even being shown live in America, instead getting a tape-delayed showing on Spanish language channel UniMas (there could yet be cable deals, though). Neither boxer has much of a profile in the USA but Parker is a household name in NZ.
Bob Arum: "My (matchmakers) think Andy has a hell of a shot. The kid is pumped because apparently he's sparred with Parker and more than held his own. I've seen some of Parker's fights on YouTube clips. He's a tremendous puncher but he doesn't look to me to be particularly fast and Andy is a very fast heavyweight."
As Russell Westbrook might say: “That’s cute”. See most people are of the opinion that Joseph Parker will be far too good for Ruiz, JP having taken care of a couple of fringe contenders in two of his last three fights while Andy Ruiz, the 27 year old Mexican known as ‘The Destroyer’, might be 29-0 with 19 KOs but his best victories have come against older or undermotivated fighters – Tor Hamer hasn’t fought again since losing to Ruiz in 2013 while his last win, the one that put him in range for this bout, came via a decision against 40 year old Franklin Spencer in September. He was due to fight Hughie Fury in the Fury-Klitschko II undercard but never signed the papers due to a disagreement with his management. This is another a step up from that for Ruiz.
Which is not to say that he won’t pose a challenge. He’s a different type of boxer to Carlos Takam and he should be much more hyped for the gig than Dimitrenko or Haumono were. Ruiz is a portly fellow but he has some quick hands and a bit of power. Tougher than he looks too. Ruiz deserves a step up and while a title shot is probably coming a couple fights early for him, you could say the same for Joseph Parker by certain measurements.
But it ain’t their fault that Tyson Fury’s been stripped. Gotta play it as it lies, ya know? The interest in this one came about as Joshua began flirting with Klitschko. Parker’s handlers had been angling towards a crack at Joshua but once Klitschko became available, AJ’s lot had options and Wlad is the bigger drawcard, make no mistake there. Parker was left out in the woods on his own so he moved on to Ruiz, a fight which has several advantages for him and DUCO – not the least of which being a better chance of winning and the opportunity to host.
Except now it looks like AJ-WK is unlikely to happen this year. There were always going to be some issues with the fact that their American broadcast deals belonged to rivals Showtime and HBO but it sounds like they mostly overcame that. What caused things to sour was that Klitschko wanted the WBA belt to be on the line as well and that isn’t going to be the case. Klitschko lost that one to Fury last year and he’d like it back. Instead Wlad has apparently agreed to a fight in December, also on the 10th. That one will be in Germany and for the vacant WBA, should it happen.
Klitschko is ranked second challenger for the WBA, with the top dog being Luis Ortiz who has a bout schedule in November against Malik Scott. That one’s on HBO and he’s not getting out of that. Instead Wlad is lining up Lucas Browne which is more than odd. Not because of the matchup – Klitschko is a 40 year old legend who has fought every challenger (except for his brother) over the years. He can fight who he damn well pleases, especially for a belt. But it’s weird that Browne would be the guy given the chance. The 37 year old Aussie got the TKO over Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA regular championship but failed a drug test and thus had to hand it back to Chagaev… who was stripped for not paying sanctioning fees. Browne probably shouldn’t even be fighting, let alone for a world title.
Browne is still ranked fifth challenger though, so Klitschko vs Browne is likely to get the nod from the WBA and Klitschko is likely to pummel him. Word is they’re struggling to agree on money but that’s no rare thing in boxing.
The reason the WBA would put the belt up for Klitschko-Browne and not Klitschko-Joshua is probably that AJ isn’t ranked on their standings. Some organisations are a bit shifty about recognising rival belt holders so that’s not a shocker – particularly with Joshua’s slightly boring CV. He’s also unranked by the WBC (held by Deontay Wilder, who’s out injured) and the WBO.
While you ponder on that, also consider this: a unification bout between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko, having let the rivalry simmer a few more months, would be a serious event. Bigger than this one would be. (At the time of writing, it’s still possible that the WBA sanction the WK-AJ fight but it depends on the legalities of Lucas Browne’s return – the decision’s been delayed several times).
There was even talk that Klitschko would take on Parker, what with WK being the one fella ranked above Andy Ruiz in the WBO division. That would have been a preferred option for the company but Parker had his hands full already, himself preferring a home fight to one in Germany and Klitschko probably prefers an older fighter to an up-and-comer at this stage – something simpler to get his career back on track for its final chapter.
The man this screws over is Anthony Joshua, who started as the guy with the belt, available and willing to defend his title. He had all the bargaining power. Now he’s the guy that’s locked outside, left scrambling to find someone worth defending his title against – which will also happen on December 10 which is shaping up as the biggest day in heavyweight boxing for bloody ages.
Kubrat Pulev was an early candidate. He wasn’t keen. David Haye would have been interested except he’s in line to fight the winner of the Parker-Ruiz fight if rumours are to be believed (there’s a 120 day period following the fight in which the winner has to take on whoever the WBO deems worthy and Haye is shaping up as most likely – this is better than the four-way tournament they initially floated). Bryant Jennings and Alexander Ustinov are possibilities. Tony Bellew might make the step up to heavyweight. Eric Molina is interested in taking on Joshua and David Price has come out swinging, desperate to give Joshua a run for.
One wrinkle to pay attention to is that Parker vs Joshua rivalry. That’s a fight that’s definitely going to happen and the pair’s careers have kind of unfolded in relation to each other so far (especially for Parker). However it could now be awhile before they actually fight. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as they could each use a bit more building up on the global scale and if they’re fighting each as champions in a year or two then that’ll be huge. Much more than now (see the trend there?).
So as close as they were to fighting in the next couple months, there’s now a genuine chance that Parker forgoes his mandatory challenge, leaving it for Kubrat Pulev to claim as the second ranked IBF challenger, given that if he wins he’s then bound to defend that title and the IBF challenge is due in January. But then that mandatory was there as an ace in the hand and now they don’t need it. There’s a different belt there for the taking instead.
This is how things work in boxing. It’s a mess and Tyson Fury’s loose belts have thrown everything into chaos – everyone’s scrambling for a title fight. The thing to remember is that in a few months’ time we’ll have unifications bouts to drool over, with the whole division so much more aligned. There’ll be a few thumping veterans in the mix but at the forefront will be a selection of young pugilists capable of carrying on rivalries for the next decade, and it’s rivalries that determine all the great eras of boxing.
Just don’t hold your breath for Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker in the short term. That dish is gonna taste best served well-done, crispy and tough, and marinated over time.