The comeback begins on December 15 in Christchurch against Alexander "The Great" Flores. 28 years old, of Mexican heritage but born in and based out of the United States, with a 17-1-1 record including 15 KOs. A more creditable fight than many, myself included, were expecting… but then Parker and his promoters have done nothing but take on difficult battles lately.

He didn’t need to fight Anthony Joshua as soon as he did but he wanted to test himself, see where he truly belonged in this division. That didn’t go so well but his unanimous decision defeat does look fairly dignified in hindsight. Anthony Joshua has only gone on and consolidated his spot at the top since and having dealt with Alexander Povetkin in September it remains that Parker is the only man to last the distance against AJ. Didn’t lay much of a hand on him but then also didn’t get too hurt in the process.

Tyson Fury alluded to that fight within a curious theory of his on The Joe Rogan Experience recently, saying what I kinda already thought which is that Joshua didn’t take any risks in that fight, didn’t even try to put away his South Auckland opponent. I figured that was just down to playing the percentages - at once a compliment to Parker’s ability to hold his own in a proper scrap but also an insult to him that he figured he could keep him at a distance and pick him off that way, which proved true.

Tyson then went further and suggested Joshua’s handlers are keeping him in cotton wool. He’s the goose that lays the golden eggs and so much of his marketability is down to being this undefeated knockout artist. They sacrificed the knockout for Parker’s belt but they weren’t going to risk the 0. Same reason he’s been dodging Deontay Wilder because Wilder is a guy who can stop anyone with a single punch. Same reason he’s only fighting like twice a year these days… but massive sellouts every time.

I don’t know if that’s fair or not but it’s interesting to ponder upon. Something’s holding up negotiations between Joshua and Wilder each time and it doesn’t seem to be Wilder’s camp. Of course, anything Tyson Fury says has to be qualified to an extent… but he does seem to be much healthier these days, mentally and physically, so it’ll be fun to see how he goes against Wilder in their upcoming clash in December (two weeks before Parker vs Flores). By the way, his cousin Hughie? Who Parker beat in a boring but comfortable win in Manchester last year? Took a big step up against Kubrat Pulev two weeks ago and lost by unanimous decision. More context for Parker’s career there. It’s funny how perceptions in this sport can change and evolve over the years.

Joseph Parker should beat Alexander Flores, it’s just a matter of how he does it. Remember he hasn’t knocked a joker out since Alexander Dimitreko and that dude barely even made it to Auckland based on the way he performed that night. I’m not obsessed with Joe’s knockouts like some people because he’s simply not a knockout kind of fighter. His best attributes are his speed and his hands. I don’t particularly care if he knocks out Flores. But he has to be the aggressor. He has to be the much more dominant fighter in that ring. That’s what he hasn’t been doing lately and that’s how he’s going to get his name back in the hat.

Against Razvan Cojanu he was frustrated by not being able to do that against a taller, more cynical fighter, no matter how much he chased and swung. Against Hughie Fury he found an extremely negative opponent who only wanted to counter punch, with his corner pretending that alone equalled boxing dominance, and was forced to settle for the scrappy win. Hey, it was a title fight so style didn’t matter. Against Anthony Joshua he wasn’t even given the chance to assert himself. Against Dillian Whyte he waited far too long.

You’ve gotta feel regret there if you’re Joseph Parker. I know he got caught on the noggin early on in the Whyte fight but the amount of damage he dished out in that final round was proof he could’ve won that bout if only he hadn’t waited so damn long. Part of that was preservation and part was survival – because Whyte did what Joshua didn’t try to do and actually hurt Joe. For the first time in his career he was put on the canvas. He’s never fought under those circumstances before and he didn’t handle it too well... at least now he realises where his limits really are. One of those things you can only learn by experience.

But Dillian Whyte has elite power. Alex Flores probably doesn’t, considering the quality of his previous opponents. Every bloody boxer and his dog has an extended unbeaten streak to start their careers these days. Being 12-0 is the new 2-0, fight a bunch of journeymen on the way up and leverage that unbeaten record to get a look in at higher quality guys later on. Flores has one defeat on his record and it was a knockout defeat to Charles Martin in 2014. He’s only fought four times since in four and a half years. Now, Charles Martin is solid. He got a go against Anthony Joshua in 2016 (didn’t last five minutes, to be fair). But he’s nothing special. Certainly not in that top tier, he lost to Adam Kowanacki in September so that proves as much. Joseph Parker has beaten at least two fighters on a similar level with him before (Ruiz and Takam).

Problem for Parker is that two straight defeats have left him on the edge of the top ten. He’s still there but he’s clinging on. A defeat against Flores would obviously put his legitimate future in serious doubt, however even a boring old points decision might slide him down behind fresher rising challengers like Filip Hrgovic and Agit Kabayel. It’s crazy how much younger Parker still is compared to basically every decent heavyweight out there, but then we already know he doesn’t want to fight deep into his 30s so you do need to consider him a fair bit older than his actual age.

It’s fair to say that he got a world title belt the easy way. Didn’t have to beat a champion, won it fighting at home against another guy who’d never fought at that level before. He then defended it a few times before getting found out at the top. Therefore you can look at his career like he’s on the slippery slope… or perhaps we can recalibrate things and ignore the title belt that his picked up in a historically convenient fashion (also at a time when the division was extremely empty thanks to a decade of Klitschko dominance… which is no longer the case as new challengers emerge on the regular). Ignore the belt and simply look at him on the basis of the guys that he’s fought.

Not as good as Joshua? Sure, but who is? Not as good as Whyte? No… but almost as good as Whyte. Everybody else he defeated, one way or another. In the very least that Dillian Whyte defeat was a wakeup call, something he needed to get out there and suffer for to realise where he truly stands among these guys. As always it’s not how many times you get knocked down but how many times you get up – losing to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte is not the measure of Joseph Parker… how he competes against Alexander Flores will be that measure. Another sloppy win or an unexpected defeat and we’re in trouble. A comprehensive victory, flaunting the power that they constantly tell us he’s been working on, flexing some unstoppable combos through his speed and vision, throwing down some untouchable defence with his chin and his footwork… that’s what’ll tell you if he’s up for another swing at another title down the line.

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