Joseph Parker vs Junior Fa: It’s Happening
It’s the biggest heavyweight fight we’ve ever seen between two New Zealand boxers and it’s a fight that never would have happened if everything had gone to plan. Two pugilists whose rivalry tracks back more than a decade to their amateur days. An inevitable match-up yet one which came about opportunistically... and after some tiresome, complicated, and ultimately successful negotiations. Joseph Parker versus Junior Fa on 11 December at Spark Arena. It’s happening.
David Tua versus Shane Cameron still holds the pay per view record in Aotearoa but that was the Tuaman coming back after two years of inactivity and nine years removed from his title bout with Lennox Lewis. His career had been wrecked by mismanagement and the lingering effects of that meant his comeback never quite got to where it might have even after the so-called Fight of the Century. As for Shane Cameron, he only had one loss on his record at the time (Friday Ahunanya) but had fought mostly only in New Zealand and Australia. A very good pro but not a world class pro as Tua had once been... and that legendary Tuaman left hook (amongst a whole lot else) proved that once and for all twenty seconds into the second round.
That fight was a big deal but this one is bigger. Whether it gets the hype and PPV numbers that it deserves is another thing but Junior Fa is a ranked contender having moved his way up the division pretty nicely these last couple years. He’s a skilled fighter with an intimidating frame and he’s undefeated at 19-0. Joseph Parker has a couple of defeats obviously but that’s because he’s been to the absolute peak of the division. He’s a former world title holder. Up against a genuine rising contender. David Tua is probably the better fighter compared to both of them, Tua is all sorts of underrated, but as a head to head match-up this one stomps all over Tua vs Cameron.
And yet it comes about thanks to a fluke of circumstance and some improvisation. Neither of these guys really wanted this fight this year. For Joseph Parker he’s focussed on making the most of that last fight on his Matchroom contract (this one won’t count, apparently). It’s been a disappointing run for him since losing a winnable bout with Dillian Whyte, tallying up the Ws since but not really getting any momentum. He wants to fight a fellow contender and get back amongst it. But those contenders are all busy right now or the fights are too difficult to arrange with travel restrictions. Luckily there’s an emerging contender with a WBO ranking of sixth (Parker is third so this helps advance his hopes of a rematch with Anthony Joshua) who just so happens to be from Aotearoa as well and he’s raring to go. It makes sense in the same way that it makes sense to eat the rest of the pizza in the fridge for lunch because it was a good pizza and also you’re hungry and there’s nothing else to eat.
As for Junior Fa, he’s been aligned with promoter Lou DiBella for a little while now and focussing on the American scene with each of his three fights in 2019 taking place in the US of A. He’s progressing nicely having only turned professional back in 2016 but he’s also never fought anyone near Parker’s calibre. Not to say he couldn’t, just that he hasn’t yet. He’s sort of at the stage that Parker was before he beat Carlos Takam, with better wins up until that point but nobody on his record even close Parker’s top scalps. This fight was inevitable. There’s too much symmetry for it not to happen but Fa’s team would’ve preferred it happen a few more fights down the road, to be fair. However a win and he catapults into that contending tier, not to mention what even just taking this fight does for his reputation/name-recognition. Too much on offer not to go for it.
A couple quotes from a Ring TV article from about a month ago when negotiations finally turned a corner to where it was clear this bout would happen...
Joseph Parker: “Get a good win if fight happens and I’m right back in mix and keep the ranking. I think it’s the only option we have because of COVID-19.”
Lou DiBella: “In a perfect world, Junior would have fought another fight or two before he stepped up to fight Joe. We are not living in a perfect world. But it’s a great opportunity and the fight in New Zealand is tremendously significant. It may not be the perfect moment for this fight but it’s the right moment”
Case and point about the fast-forwarded timeline there. Like, they weren’t even trying to hide it.
And yet it still took ages to get the negotiations over the try line. No need to get into the nitty gritty again now that it’s all been concluded but it sounds like Parker’s team probably low-balled Fa on the financial side initially (which then gave them room to say: ‘well, we offered but they won’t sign, it’s their fault’) and there were all sorts of other tricky technicalities too. A lot of which we can probably put down to Parker’s team actually for once getting to be the dominant force in negotiations - even when he had his title belt wasn’t really the case... all his relevant defences were fought overseas where he was treated like the challenger and not the champ (Povetkin and Cojanu not being considered relevant since those fights were trash). Don’t really blame David Higgins and friends for trying to milk things to their advantage this time around given they’ve had to deal with both the Fury camp and also the Joshua camp in recent years.
But this isn’t amateur hour here or anything. Parker is represented by Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Sports, who are still very much a part of the marketing here even if this isn’t considered a contractual fight (which is huuuuuge for the global exposure of the bout, btw). Fa is represented by Lou DiBella who has been in this game a long time, based out of New York. DiBella wasn’t about to let potentially his top current heavyweight get taken advantage of. Lots of loud voices trying to be heard. Lots of broadband-stretching zoom meetings. Lots of haggling. Not only over dollars and cents but also over gloves and drug testing and there were reportedly some minor complications with the sanctioning bodies. Joseph Parker has a rematch clause in case he loses. It all got done eventually.
Thus on Friday 11 December Joseph Parker and Junior Fa will step into the ring at Spark Arena in Auckland. Fitting that it would be in the AK too because both these guys are South Aucklanders - Parker from Otahuhu and Fa from Papakura. There’s also the Samoan vs Tongan aspect to all this for some extra hot sauce on the dish. And of course there’s the history of their four amateur bouts... although as much as you’ll hear about that history over the next two months it’s probably the most overrated factor involved here. They first fought as amateurs in 2009 when Parker was 17 and Fa was 20... Fa won that fight but clearly being two and a half years older was a bit of an advantage at that age. Even if it wasn’t then the most recent one was still eight years ago and that’s ages. A nice little twist of fate that ties this rivalry together but nothing that has any impact on the bout itself.
Sidenote here about the broadcast... Spark Sport won the scrap for the Aotearoa rights – another one they seem to have gotten over Sky TV – and it’ll be pay per view on their streaming platform for 40 bucks if you order it early or $50 if you wait ‘til after 27 October. NZME are also partners so presumably that means they’ll have it on the radio or something, dunno, but keep that in mind when you see the NZ Herald getting all the supposed scoops over the next two months. Meanwhile the international broadcast will be carried by DAZN who are aligned with Matchroom and are sort of like the Spark Sport of international fight sports. Excellent exposure that helps make this scrap nice and profitable.
There is one other little detail to be ironed out. Joseph Parker’s team is a bit pissed off at the moment because they’ve so far been unable to get his sparring partner Guido Vianello into the country. Not an essential worker so therefore they need an exemption which has thus far been non-forthcoming.
There is a precedent with some other international sports folk getting those exemptions so it’s possible it’ll happen and Vianello offers a similar size and shape to Junior Fa which would clearly serve Parker well. But also that kinda begins to feel like an afterthought when you realise that Vianello happens to be trained by Kevin Barry, living with him at his Las Vegas residence. It’s not like they hand-picked the perfect specimen from across the wide world... they went with the closest guy. Junior Fa trains out of City Kickboxing so he’s got no shortage of willing ring-mates including rising heavyweight Hemi Ahio which is clearly an advantage to his preparations. Not an excuse for Parker and his crew but they’re based in Las Vegas so the comforts of home don’t apply like they ordinarily might. Gut feeling: they’ll be able to get a sparring partner in. But even if they don’t, pretty sure there must be some solid battlers around Aotearoa putting their hands up. Which would only be fitting.
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