Five Jokers That Joseph Parker Could Possibly Fight Next
Jokers in the respectful sense, that is. There are no muppets at the very top of the heavyweight division, despite what Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder might make a few of them look like, and there are always plenty of willing scrappers out there.
Joseph Parker just copped the first L of his career. No worries, very few fighters have ever gone undefeated and he hardly embarrassed himself against AJ in Cardiff. Can’t do much about the physical differences, height and reach and all that, but he knows now he can go the distance against a guy like that. He knows he can withstand what Joshua has to offer (albeit we didn’t really see Joshua at his most brutal, he fought within himself to ensure a victory) and he knows that he’s capable of worrying him – not so much because he damaged the guy but more because of what Joshua’s conservative tactics suggested. AJ didn’t want to take a risk. That’s a sign of respect.
Losing to a better fighter is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact when you can claim to be the only man on the planet to take the reigning champ twelve rounds in a pro bout, when you did it in front of 80,000 fans and with a fair bit of public sympathy after an overly cautious refereeing performance… guys want to take you on. Joseph Parker’s profile (and bank balance, deservedly) is bigger than ever. He’s got options.
He’s also got a pathway back to a championship belt in a year or so because Anthony Joshua’s number one focus is uniting the belts against Deontay Wilder… but that’s a tricky fight to organise for a few reasons. It should happen, probably in 2018 too. But gotta wait and see how that goes because if it takes too long then mandatory defences might get called for. A unification outweights a mandatory however we may get to the point where AJ is forced to sacrifice one to defend another. Winning back his WBO would be the obvious one, with Parker already highly ranked (although most rankings, WBO included, haven’t been updated yet since Joshua vs Parker).
Okay then, here are those five jokers…
Dereck Chisora
David Higgins and Eddie Hearn had this weird rivalry going on during the AJ-JP stuff but they’re so damn similar that you’d expect they get on pretty well behind closed doors. Especially now that fight is over and done. So after Parker made a good impression on the British crowd and with Eddie Hearn having a selection of British-based pugilists in his stable, it’d make sense to go after one of them. One like Dereck Chisora, for example. 34 years old and with a 28-8 record, Chisora is a very beatable opponent but still one that would get people taking notice because of his name. Dell Boy has lost to Agit Kabayel, Dillian Whyte, Kubrat Pulev, Tyson Fury (twice), David Haye, Robert Helenius and Vitali Klitschko. He’s known as a bit of a gatekeeper, since he loses to the better dudes and beats up on the weaker ones. Parker’s already established as a better one but a good hit out here wouldn’t go astray.
Bryant Jennings
Similarly while Duco has connections with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, they have tighter links with Bob Arum and Top Rank, who are co-promoters of Parker. Top Rank’s presence these days is more in the lower weight classes but they do have Jennings on their books, the American sitting at 22-2 with a fight against Joey Dawejko coming up in a few weeks. Should be a win there and Jennings is looking to get back on track since back to back defeats to Wladimir Klitschko and Luis Ortiz in 2015. He’s won his last three since sitting out all of 2016 but none against anyone decent. In fact he KO’d Daniel Martz in the second round last August, a guy who Parker dropped in the first back in December 2015. Would be an easy one to arrange and it’d help Parker take his first steps to establishing himself in America, which seems like the logical next step.
Dominic Breazeale
Another American fighter and one with a curious career. Currently at 19-1 so far with 17 KOs. He took Anthony Joshua into the seventh round in mid-2016 but was then quickly dismantled and has since fought and won twice, stopping Eric Molina in the eighth late last year after a thrilling clash with Parker’s old mate Izu Ugonoh (who hasn’t been heard of since) earlier in 2017. Breazeale is one of Deontay Wilder’s potential next victims, Breazeale recently declined a shot at Kubrat Pulev for the IBF mandatory challenger status so that suggests he and Wilder are up for it, but Wilder’s eyes are set on Joshua’s belts, which yet might leave Dommy fancying Parker for a gig. Parker’s quicker and sharper than DB but Breazeale has the size on him and can hit pretty hard. He’d be a very good tactical test ahead of a future rematch with Joshua or a clash with Wilder someday. A risky one, granted.
Dillian Whyte
If Duco are serious about going after the English crowd then the next biggest name after Joshua would be this bloke. Whyte just murdered Aussie Lucas Browne and, along with Wlad Klitschko, is arguably the only man who ever really hurt Anthony Joshua… although he ended up getting knocked out all the same. Whyte wants to get at Deontay Wilder which would precede a Wilder-Joshua fight if Eddie Hearn gets his way. Wilder doesn’t want to piss around when Joshua’s there right now. Could get chaotic which would leave room for Duco to sneak in. Parker would get a test of his defence against Whyte but he’d also be good enough to out-box the dude if he can take him the distance, it’s the sort of matchup that’d do his reputation heaps with a win. He might not want to jump straight back into the hot seat when there’s no straight-away need to, since neither Wilder or Joshua’s gonna be available to him in the short term, but Whyte’s highly ranked in all four top divisions so this is the gutsy move that would put Parker immediately back in contention. Although the IBF have other ideas.
Jarrell Miller
Top three in the last WBA, WBO and IBF ranks, Big Baby Miller is a rising force in the division, similar in size to Parker but a couple years older at 29 and a couple fights less experienced at 20-0-1. He’s scrapping with Johann Duhaupas in two weeks and a win there would prove he’s ready to step it up. Would likely take place in America so that’s something to enjoy… it wouldn’t even be impossible to get these two on a Wilder undercard, setting them up for the big one down the line. Eddie Hearn kinda wants Miller for AJ as a preparation for Wilder, which might ruin things. Plus Miller would be a tricky fight. Parker might prefer an easier one first up after losing to Joshua.
And now five disappointing fights that it’d be very nice if they didn’t happen:
Lucas Browne – What a waste of time this would be. Browne’s going nowhere and just got demolished. The only thing going for him is the Aussie-Kiwi rivalry but that’s still pretty weak. It would be Duco reverting to their worst if they tried to sell this for 50 bucks on PPV.
Junior Fa – The two top NZ heavyweights right now but let Junior keep working on his stuff in America for now. The amateur history between them is overblown and Fa’s got his own path to travel. Don’t ruin that for a quick payday.
Tony Bellew – No thanks, not about that fake hype. Bellew only beat David Haye because Haye tore his Achilles… although the rematch between those two next month should be good.
Luis Ortiz – Makes sense on some levels and it’d be a very good fight… but why should Parker risk that against a 39 year old with a history of PED issues coming off a loss to Deontay Wilder that probably ends his top level candidacy? Too much baggage there and the last thing you want is to cop a swinging hook from Ortiz with nothing left to lose. You’d be inviting him back into the fold.
Tyson Fury – Sorry but just because he talks it up on the ‘gram doesn’t mean he’s actually making a comeback. Believe that when you see it, there’s no way Fury can get back to fighting shape after so long out, not to where he once was. Seriously, this is not the island to die on.
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