Who’s Next For Joe Parker Now That The Hughie Fury Thing’s Fallen Through?
Now that the Fury fury is done with – hopefully – there’s another big question to be answered and that’s what the hell Joseph Parker does now. He was supposed to earn close to a couple million bucks for fighting Hughie Fury but now the schedule is bare.
Luckily for him, it’s not the most uncommon thing out there for dudes to pull out late from boxing bouts. Injuries in training or positive drugs tests, these things happen more often than we’re happy to admit and it’d be a rookie promoter that didn’t have at least a couple contingency plans in place. There have definitely been arguments about Duco’s status on the world stage but they can’t have failed to catch glimpses of this eventuality.
Nobody was anticipating the fight would be abandoned. However it didn’t take a peek in the crystal ball to see things weren’t going smoothly. Delays in signing the agreement, delays in the fight, a trainer getting denied entry into the country… all sorts of frustrating holdups. Back in February the Fury team was even warned that if they didn’t get the papers signed for this matchup then Parker would be allowed to pursue his own voluntary defence. Fast forward a few months and that’s exactly what’s happened. Now, if Duco haven’t already got a few ideas of short term opponents then they’re doing it wrong.
Erm… maybe not him. For logistical reasons they wanna keep the same May 6 date, that may or may not be possible depending on how soon they can tie in another fella. First thing’s first, gotta find another fella and the WBO have put one parameter on the whole thing…
From Duco’s official statement: “The World Boxing Organisation has, therefore, advised Duco Events to investigate the possibility of Joseph Parker making a voluntary defence of his heavyweight title against an opponent ranked in the top 15 of the world rankings. Duco Events is currently investigating all options and will make no further comment as yet.”
Right, a top 15 WBO heavyweight. If you happen to have one of those lying around then give Duco a call. Perhaps check down the side of the sofa, in the pockets of your pants before you put them through the washer, definitely have a search underneath the seats of your car. They’re usually in the last place you look, remember.
Parker was initially meant to fight David Haye for this defence but the Hayemaker chose to take on Tony Bellew instead in a less glamorous but way more hyped up British boxing duel. Haye lost that sucker after ripping an Achilles during the bout (already carrying some injuries) but the fight was nothing if not a good old fashioned bruiser. Haye won a lot of respect back for battling away on one leg while Bellew, not a natural heavyweight, saw himself vindicated with the result. It was considered a big upset but really neither was gunning for glory. If winning belts was the priority then Haye would’ve positioned himself to fight Parker instead – maybe not straight away with this defence but he could’ve stayed in the rankings by fighting a Whyte or Breazeale, for example. Dillian Whyte slugged away in a thriller against Dereck Chisora on the undercard of the last Anthony Joshua fight.
So scratch out either of those buggers. Bellew has talked up his ability to get Parker over to the UK to fight him before, now that he’s a big name and all (he played the opponent in Creed, too!) and especially now that he’s backtracked on talk that he planned to retire after beating Haye. He’s not on the list though, so he’ll have to wait – plus both parties seem keen on a Haye-Bellew rematch once they’re fully fit again.
Another name went and threw itself into the hat in the immediate aftermath of Parker’s fight being called off. A certain Australian currently dealing with the ramifications of a positive drugs test. Lucas Browne got himself close enough to touch the top of the heavyweight division once or twice but only because boxing is a complicated mess. Despite the world title claims, he only really won a placeholder belt and even then he lost it because of an earlier drug failure (which might have been a stitch-up, hard to say).
Browne just wants to get his name mentioned in the same articles as Joseph Parker, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. So does Bellew, probably. They won’t be the only ones either. Instead let’s take a look at the latest update of the WBO heavyweight rankings… which make for some strange viewing.
WBO Top 15 HWs, as per Fight News:
- Hughie Fury
- Christian Hammer
- Jarrell Miller
- Andy Ruiz
- Kubrat Pulev
- Dominic Breazeale
- Dillian Whyte
- Tom Schwarz
- Andriy Rudenko
- Luis Ortiz
- Andrey Fedosov
- Agit Kabayel
- Kyotaro Fujimoto
- Razvan Cojanu
- Zhilei Zhang
If you’re wondering, Parker isn’t ranked because he’s the champ. These are the challenger rankings. They’re also devoid of almost all the actual challengers out there and that’s because of how the different organisations like to prioritise their own belts so if you don’t fight the challengers on their list, they don’t rate you so highly. And if your list ends up without too many challengers at all because some bloke name Klitschko held it for seven and a half years, destroying all comers until another bloke named Fury took it from him and then vacated it… then your list is gonna look like this.
Which doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few worthy challengers amongst the fifteen. That fella Hughie Fury is a decently rated young prospect and… oh no wait. But that Andy Ruiz lad, he can… argh that’s right. Bollocks.
Some of these guys on the list are nobodies. Like, let alone being top 15 in the WBO they shouldn’t even be top 30 in the world. Then again, neither was Solomon Haumono when Joe fought him. A couple are quite good though. Luis Ortiz is an absolute brawler with possibly the heaviest punch in the division. He’s probably the only guy on the list with real title ability right now but the Cuban’s career has been a bit of a mess due to a past PED thing and some promotional dramas. That was supposed to be over when he signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport – Anthony Joshua’s team – in 2016 but after two fights he left to join Al Haymon. At 38, the clock is ticking for him and he was due to fight Derric Rossy on April 20 but that one was called off a week out when Ortiz injured his thumb and he’s out of action at the moment.
Dillian Whyte is another one with some potential because he’s tried to call out Joe Parker in the past. Whyte - born in Jamaica, fights outta England - is one of those fighters who calls out everyone to see who’s keen and he won a thriller over Dereck Chisora on the last Joshua undercard so there’s also a political reason to get after him: make AJ pay attention. However Whyte is due to fight Mariusz Wach on June 3 so it shan’t be happening. A shame, he and Parker are similar sizes and that woulda made for an interesting bout.
Throw out Kubrat Pulev’s name as well. The Bulgarian is legit, he’s the best fighter out of Eastern Europe not named Klitschko right now and in fact Klitschko is the only man who’s ever beat him. Just like Whyte’s only loss came to AJ. Pulev is too good to be fighting on such short notice so the date would need to be pushed back… but it doesn’t matter coz he’s busy too – fighting Kevin Johnson on April 28. Also, Pulev’s motivation has been sketchy since he got demolished by Klitschko in 2014 and while he talks up his chances of getting another belt bout, fighting Johnson isn’t worth much salt. KJ’s been whupped by Tyson Fury, Christian Hammer, Dereck Chisora and Anthony Joshua in the last five years. Pulev is also the likely mandatory for Anthony Joshua’s IBF title however he’s likely to get stiffed by a unification shot after AJ vs Wlad – although he wouldn’t be the first to turn down the IBF mandatory for a dig at the WBO title… Joe Parker did the same thing.
Speaking of Herr Hammer, the 29 year old German would make a decent fill-in. He got the TKO over David Price in London back in February and his only loss in the last seven years, since he was a young pro, was to a rising Tyson Fury. He holds the WBO European heavyweight title, a regional belt, but according to BoxRec he’s defending that against Zine Eddine Benmakhlouf in May so he’s unavailable too. He did have this to say back in Feb after pretty much forcing Price into retirement: “I want to fight Joseph Parker, or the winner between Parker and [Hughie] Fury. I feel I deserve a world title shot.” If he’s not actually fighting the Algerian chap then he also says in that interview that he’s planning on getting married next month. Either way, he’s not gonna be here.
Jarrell Miller is a snappy American with a tendency to talk loudly and often. They call him “Big Baby” and he once got into an on-air live argument with Deontay Wilder which was funny. Also called Joe Parker a “bum” back in December but his only relevant win was over Fred Kassi last August. He’s unbeaten and is manager by Top Rank which means the negotiations would go smoothly despite the time constraints – Parker now co-promoted by TR as well. Miller’s is a name that’s been mentioned with Parker in the past.
Time to eliminate some jokers. Agit Kabayel is a 24 year old German prospect with a 16-0 record that features zero interesting victims. He also just fought in February and has never fought outside of Europe so he’d seem a slim option. Kyotaro Fujimoto is a 30 year old Japanese former kick boxer with a similarly average record. Fujimoto nearly fought Parker once before but withdrew without much explanation and Parker took on Bowie Tupou instead. Dean Lonergan called him a “coward” at the time. If he didn’t want it then then he damn sure don’t want it now.
Then there’s Zhilei Zhang, the Beijing Olympic silver medallist, who can certainly throw a punch or two but is due to fight Mark Brown in North Carolina a week before Parker-Fury was booked for. Nothing going on in his career that suggests he’s deserving of a title shot yet anyway – granted he did lose to Anthony Joshua on points in the London Olympic quarters in 2012. As for 22 year old Tom Schwarz of Germany, he’s tall enough to fill in for Fury nicely but he just got back from extending his unbeaten record with a KO of Adnan Redzovic in Thuringen last week – a fight that was a mere six weeks after his prior one and he’d get a lot less than six weeks to prep for Parker.
(Zhang, Cojanu and Schwarz are the three guys on the WBO list not ranked top 15 by a single other organisation).
Yaaah, so many boxers! The good news is we’re now getting into the genuine possibilities. By the way, some of these fighters might not be there for Joe to go fisticuffs with next month but plenty of them are young and on the come up – which makes them future candidates worth watching. Hammer, Miller and Schwarz especially.
Andrey Fedosov hasn’t been active for close to ten months now but has gotten mentioned in a few prospective talks with a couple major names. He’s a ranked Russian contender and might make sense as a replacement fighter if he’s willing to ditch his set up in America, where his last 13 fights have all taken place. Hey, there’s a belt on the line. Fedosov’s a bit shorter than Parker so it’d mean a change in plans from the Fury tactics but whatever.
Similarly, Andriy Rudenko is even shorter and stockier but he has actually fought Hughie Fury in the past, back in Feb 2015. They can trade notes and sympathy. Rudenko last fought in December and is available though he’s used to scrapping in Ukraine. There’s a very significant chance that the New Zealand thing will be the sticking point for plenty of these prospective opponents. There are whispers that Rudenko has been approached, though.
Razvan Cojanu is another one. A Romanian fighter whose resume at least suggests he’s open to travel but that’s about all. Would be a complete mismatch but he is really tall and Parker’s been readying himself for a taller boxer. Yet to fight in 2017 so he’s fresh as well.
But if we’re looking for an opponent who balances the line between being competitive, famous and beatable then it’s gotta be Dominic Breazeale. The US pugilist was unbeaten until he lost to Anthony Joshua last year but he took AJ deep into the seventh, longer than any other pro has lasted against the Watford Walloper. Breazeale hit the ring in February for his comeback against Izu Ugonoh, Parker’s old sparring bro, and in one of the fights of the year so far he was able to drop Izu and take a KO victory despite looking vulnerable himself. Parker should be able to do him in if Izu came close but Breazeale still brings a name to the table. He’s tall and he can take a beating. Plus he’s keen, so whaddaya reckon?
Let’s revisit that list now:
- Hughie Fury – Silly and injured
- Christian Hammer – Probably keen but otherwise occupied
- Jarrell Miller – Loud but possibly available
- Andy Ruiz – Been there done that… rematch?
- Kubrat Pulev – Settling for battlers instead
- Dominic Breazeale – Ready and willing
- Dillian Whyte – Busy with Someone Else
- Tom Schwarz – Needs a rest
- Andriy Rudenko – Sturdy, stocky, free and beatable
- Luis Ortiz – Scary but injured
- Andrey Fedosov – Could happen
- Agit Kabayel – Unproven and untravelled
- Kyotaro Fujimoto – Already had his chance and declined
- Razvan Cojanu – Open to travel, might be open to fighting
- Zhilei Zhang – Has other plans
So the choice is there, it depends on what Parker/Duco’s plan is for after the fight. In other words, if they want to take on a big dog straight away (or a rearranged Hughie Fury fight, which is still possible) then you pick a guy from lower on the list to keep busy and fit for a simple win and then focus on the next one. If that option isn’t there, or if they don’t plan to fight again for a few more months then pick a tougher bloke and make more of a statement defence. Dominic Breazeale is in that latter category while Rudenko, Cojanu, Fedosov and Miller all fall in the former.
The complicating factor is that Deontay Wilder thing. The Bronze Bomber wants Joe. Joe wants the Bronze Bomber. Parker was there in the crowd at Wilder’s last fight and the pair spoke after the fight, courageous and respectful words about unification bouts and all that. Wilder doesn’t mince words and he slammed the Fury’s for pulling out but in his eyes this is all just providence that clears the path towards a second world title for him. The trick here is that he doesn’t wanna fight again until July so it might mean abandoning this May 6 date (or picking a weakling that won’t go longer than a few rounds) but while Wilder isn’t on the WBO’s list, he happens to hold the WBC heavyweight world title belt so that’s irrelevant – Deontay is due a defence of his belt soon but a unification bout takes precedent for both organisations.
Parker himself has said that May 6 is still on. Of course it is, Duco have sold tickets and Parker’s been through almost a full programme of training. He’s in fighting fit condition and he wants to test that out, like was always the plan. So that might affect the prospect of a Parker-Wilder fight in early July, only two months later. Then again, there was about a two month gap between Parker beating Alexander Dimitrenko and Andy Ruiz so if he can find someone to put up as little of a fight as Dimitrenko did then that turnaround won’t be unusual for him – the Ruiz fight was the biggest of his career.
And let’s assume Hughie Fury was still coming. Then assume that Parker pummels him. What next? Well, you’re probably looking towards a fella like Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder. Unification bouts – that’s what all three of those belt holders are talking about. Wilder’s thrown his hat in the ring but he was always gonna be one of the next dudes they looked towards after the Fury fight. He’s what’s next after what’s next.
What’s actually next? Probably one of those lower-ranked Eastern European blokes, maybe Jarrell Miller. We’ll know in the next few days.
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