Joseph Parker Got Knocked All The Way Out By Joe Joyce... Where Does He Go From Here?
Joseph Parker has lost fights before... but never like that. Joe Joyce was always going to be a tough opponent, an undefeated prospect with a powerful amateur record and a distinct size advantage in the bout. Joyce was also somewhat of an unknown prospect having only fought 14 previous professional fights despite being 37 years old. That’s what a long amateur career will do to ya – one which includes a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. Joyce has steadily worked his way towards this bout with solid wins against gatekeeper type fighters but, for him, this Parker fight was another step up. It’s hard to know what to expect in that situation.
It was also hard to know what to expect from Joseph Parker who was into his third bout with Andy Lee as trainer and ready to show what he’s been working on in the nine months since he last stepped into the ring (a rematch win over Derek Chisora last December). Lee spoke about keeping Parker more active and ruthless as opposed to what he perceived as lapses in concentration during fights. Joyce was ranked number one challenger by the WBO, Parker was ranked number two. Thus the WBO put their interim title – and the right to be next in line to challenge belt-holder Oleksandr Usyk at some stage in the future – on the line as the two entered the ring in Manchester on Saturday night local time.
That’s some chunky reward for a bloke like Joe Parker. Ever since losing his WBO world title belt in a comfortable points decision to Anthony Joshua in 2018 – and then subsequently to Dillian Whyte in a close one four months later – he’s been angling for a pathway back to the top. Since then there have been some extended periods of confusion and/or lack of direction. There’s been a change of trainer. There’s been a move to Morecambe. And a couple wins over Derek Chisora later he was in a position where if he could fine a way to beat Joe Joyce then that crack at a second world title would be closer than ever.
Instead, this is what happened...
The opening bell saw Joyce take up position in the centre of the ring with Parker operating from the outside, trying to stay busy with his quick hands. Not much in that round. Parker probably edged it thanks to that extra activity although both guys had moments. JP’s best stuff came from the body work. The second round was more expansive and Parker got that right hook to land once or twice while the body work continued to be a focus.
Yet it was Joyce who was controlling the flow thanks to his jab. Meaning that for Parker to hit him, he often had to walk through a few blows coming back the other way. In the corner after round two, you could already see some swelling around Parker’s left eye and a bit of blood leaking from his nose. Joyce is a man with slugger’s force in his gloves. That was not a good sign.
Then the heavy stuff truly began. Joyce copped him early in the third with a howling left hook and that set the tone as Parker was visibly pained by the force of JJ’s deadly accurate power punches. Parker responded with a right hook that crunched home and bought him some room. Then he closed the third with a couple hard ones to gather back some momentum even though the round was already beyond him. Problem was that Joyce didn’t seem at all phased by those clean shots. If this was going to be a fight full of traded blows then that did not suit the kiwi bloke whatsoever, not with twelve potential rounds to survive.
As a response, a more cautious Parker emerged in the fourth and that might have earned him the round. Joyce’s tagging jabs had him in strong contention but Parker landed the 2-3 best punches of the frame, all sturdy overhand rights. But the fifth was the same thing except without the Parker blasts so you’d have to hand it to JJ. To be honest, Parker already looked tired. His fitness has generally been a strength for him but it’s a lot harder to catch your breath when you’re being battered as regularly as this.
The vibe was not swell if you were supporting Joseph Parker. He was taking noticeable damage and it was affecting his stamina not even halfway through the bout whereas Joyce looked like the terminator just stone-faced and relentless and incapable of pain. It wasn’t looking good, bruh. Then the sixth round happened and from that point onwards it got ugly. Check out the CompuBox numbers and see the sheer damage that Joe Joyce began to inflict...
It was a big turning point round for Joyce in the sixth as he began to throw those hard ones with more regularity yet just as much success. The seventh began with Parker striking home with a couple mint haymakers but after that it was more of the same as JJ worked him over with force. The seventh round ended with Parker stumbling back on his heels with a large cut spilling blood past his right eye.
They patched up the cut but it only took a few more blows before it was streaming all over again. Joyce was a shark in the water. In it for the kill. He bossed the eighth as he bossed the sixth and seventh and it was all Parker could do to stay on his feet and throw a few counters back in the other direction. Fair play to Parker because he’s a durable bloke with a rock-hard chin – we’ve never seen him in this state of distress before but he still wouldn’t go down. Never stopped throwing punches either. He was coming off worse in the overall exchanges but displaying plenty of heart.
JP made a debate of it in the ninth round, built upon a brilliant right upper cut early on. The tenth was decent too thanks to a flurry of left hooks right before the bell – although he could easily still be judged to have lost both those rounds. Some nice highlight reel punches don’t overcome the clear fact that Joyce was in full control. Way up on the cards too. At best it was six rounds to four to JJ after ten. At best. Could feasibly have scored it nine to one in favour of Joyce depending on what you’re looking for. Officially the judges all had Joyce ahead by 2-5 points after ten meaning that a knockdown was going to be essential for Parker to even have a sniff of the victory. There was a knockdown in the eleventh round. Woah boy was there a knockdown. But it wasn’t for Joseph Parker.
Joyce struck with a couple head shots early in the eleventh and that relentlessness was there for all to witness as he continued to throw steady punches that refused Parker any hope of recovery. Parker was exhausted. Leaning on Joyce’s shoulder and smearing claret all over him. The ref split them apart. Then Joyce threw a thumping left through the gate and that was that. The way that Parker fell, there was no way he was making the count. Joe Joyce took the victory by stoppage 1:03 into the eleventh round.
This was a dominant display from Joe Joyce, damn he was good. The best consolation for Parker is that very few blokes could have lasted as long as he did in that situation. With this win, Joyce arguably puts himself into top five heavyweight candidacy and if Joyce goes on to smoke a few more contenders in similar fashion then suddenly Parker’s loss doesn’t look quite so bad. He showed a lot of courage out there. In a funny way that may endear him more to some pundits than a few of his wins have done.
This fight, like most fights, was decided by styles. Parker’s best stuff tends to come off the back of his left jab, especially his combinations. He loves that double left jab followed by the hard right through the middle. He’s also always been a guy who’s not afraid to take a punch. Certainly not a guy who’ll hide behind his stance.
That’s served him well before as his lack of top tier power means he needs to be able to land on the counter when guys are off-balance or exposed. Plus very few fighters have been able to genuinely hurt him in a fight-altering way so it’s a risk he can take. Anthony Joshua stayed within himself in their bout. Dillian Whyte dropped him but it was a head clash. He was dropped by Chisora in the first meeting but recovered to win. This was something completely else.
Joyce’s compact, lurking style meant that Parker struggled to establish his jab and those CompuBox numbers make that abundantly clear. Joyce, on the other hand, wasn’t just landing his jab but was doing genuine damage with it too. As a consequence, Parker had to open himself up in order to land punches however Joyce was unfazed by even his most impressive shots and the cumulative pain coming back in return took a heavy toll. Joyce could hurt him with his jabs. Parker couldn’t hurt him with his power punches. Bloody hell. Worth adding that Parker weighed in at 115.8kgs which is his heaviest ever fight weight. Maybe that was a factor in his less-than-typical stamina here... though pretty sure the violent punches he suffered were more to the point.
So, like, what next? That’s a difficult one to answer right now because a loss like that takes away his ability to make that decision for himself. He’s kinda gotta sit back and see how the heavyweight division unfolds. The dream of another title bout is a lot further away this week than it was last week although Parker was the first to admit that he was beaten by the better man and that’s how it’s supposed to work.
Parker made it clear straight afterwards that he still wants to keep fighting and pushing for another title down the line. He also said that he rates Joe Joyce up there with anyone he’s done battle with in the past, granted given what happened that shouldn’t be a surprise. Still, his lack of excuses afterwards, a mindful acceptance of the outcome, is also proving pretty endearing to a lot of fans around the world.
The irony is that kiwi supporters are probably more down on him than boxing fans overseas. The British crowd have a long history with Joyce thanks to his Olympic exploits and expected him to emerge victorious (Joyce was a firm favourite with the bookies). So seeing JP withstand such a barrage for ten and a bit rounds kinda enhances his reputation over there – where in the past he’s been seen as someone whose fights can be quite conservative and unenthralling. Meanwhile those from Aotearoa and Samoa are naturally going to be more negative due to the shock of seeing him KO’d like that.
Thing is, the United Kingdom response is actually more valuable to him. His last three fights have been in Manchester and his new fight base is down the road in Morecambe. He’s best buds with Tyson Fury. He’s got an Irish trainer. That’s where the money is and the opportunities are. As a former champ and well-known name he should always at least be able to get those gatekeeper fights for as long as he wants them. The ‘fight me to earn the right to fight them’ sort of deals.
Which brings us to one of the most important factors of all which is that Joseph Parker has new promoters. This was his first bout under the BOXXER banner and main man Ben Shalom was full of praise for the spectacle that Parker contributed to in that bout. Great fights sell tickets, after all. BOXXER is an agency on the rise for whom Joseph Parker is their number one heavyweight. They need him to keep fighting and putting on shows like this. Anyway, he signed a multi-fight deal.
When Parker was with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom it often felt like he was not the priority. Everything at Matchroom is built around how to maintain Anthony Joshua’s carefully cultivated reputation but even beyond that there seemed to be a bias towards the British blokes (albeit understandable given they’re trying to sell pay-per-views to English folk) with Parker’s best interests not always attended to. At BOXXER he’s the big fish and that oughta help him.
One other thing Parker reiterated a couple times in his various post-fight media yarns is his desire to get back into the ring as soon as possible... after a family holiday to Fiji, of course. In his mind he’s most effective when he’s fighting regularly and this was his first bout for nine months. He fought three times in 2021 and the third of those was his best performance. Considering that he passed all his medical tests in the aftermath of this knockout, it wouldn’t be entirely out of the question if he fought again before the end of the year. Certainly early next year at the latest.
It’s hard to see Joseph Parker winning another world title and to be honest the way he won it before was extremely convenient. Right place at the right time and he made it count. He’s not on the same level as the best guys in his division and he lacks the get-wrecked power or the awkward size that would give him a reasonable shot at an upset against any of them.
He’s never gonna fight the bro Tyson Fury. He’s already lost to Anthony Joshua and Joe Joyce. Oleksandr Usyk’s not gonna be on his radar any time soon after this defeat. But he has beaten Andy Ruiz and he was very close against Dillian Whyte. He’s not top five, however he’s arguably still top ten. You can still make a rather handy living partaking in those kinda match-ups and if you win enough of them then you never know what else might come your way. But the best thing for Parker’s future prospects would be watching Joe Joyce stay busy and knock a few other jerries to the canvas, the earlier the better, to give a whole lot more clarity to this defeat.
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