Joseph Parker had a decent wee victory on the weekend. The kiwi heavyweight took on Englishman Jack Massey in his latest bout, a career cruiserweight dipping his toes into the unlimited class, and took him out over ten rounds via a comfortable unanimous points decision. It was nothing spectacular but it was a return to winning ways after his knockout loss to Joe Joyce back in September. Job done and onto the next, with talk of an April date for his subsequent effort.

Despite randomly being broadcast on free to air telly in Aotearoa, this was a relatively low key bout for Parker. He fought on the undercard of the Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Smith middleweight blockbuster and not as the lead prelim either – he was down the order about four fights from the main event. What’s more is that the fight was only announced right before Christmas when nobody was paying much attention. Understandably it therefore got buried in the mix.

Not much hype and not much spectacle for ol’ Joe this time around... nah, this was just a convenient opportunity to get back in the ring thanks as new promoter Ben Shalom and his BOXXER agency as they filled out the line-up for one of their biggest evenings by using blokes from their own stable. The Joyce bout was Parker’s first as a BOXXER rep. An inauspicious start so far, although it’s clearly better for him to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond rather than an oversight for Eddie Hearn/Matchroom as they prioritised the likes of Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. Proper headline BOXXER events should follow for Parker but this didn’t need to be one of them.

While the heavyweight division has had its fair share of top class cruiserweights stepping up to the heavies... Jack Massey’s not quite one of them. Oleksandr Usyk made that transition after already destroying all competition as a cruiserweight. Massey’s had a solid career at that level, carrying over a 20-1 record, but he’s not fought against the best of the best. He was never a champion, never even close. Still not somebody to take lightly but he was also someone that Parker could reasonably expect to defeat. And he dutifully did.

All of which seems to add up to a simple day at the office. Nothing to get all frisky about, got what he came for but still with plenty to work on. Those kinda vibes. Except, that is, if you give it a cheeky news search for Joseph Parker’s name. Do that and the kind of words you’re going to find in those NZ media headlines are words like: struggles, disappointing, unsatisfied, underwhelming, flattering, fails to impress, etc.

Why all the gloominess? It’s probably as simple as the fact that he didn’t knock the fella out. Parker weighed in 14 kilograms heavier than Massey (despite shaving 4.6kg off the career high he turned up at for the Joyce defeat – a tactic that you’d have to say backfired on him). Massey himself is only five centimetres shorter than Joyce but weighed in more than 27kgs lighter. So... yeah, a very different shape of opponent.

But it’s still a large leap to go from ‘Parker’s way heavier for once’ to ‘therefore he should knock a jerry out’. Because at what stage of Joseph Parker’s now-34 fight professional career has he ever been a genuine knockout artist? Only when he was fighting the plumbers and truckies that Duco managed to wrangle up for him early on in his career. In Parker’s first 18 fights he had 16 stoppages. Since then... he’s 13-3 with five knockouts. All of his best wins, against his most notable opponents, have come via decisions. The subsequent KOs that he’s mustered up have been in his comeback/keep-busy bouts. Here’s the proof within the pudding:

Parker Knockouts Since March 2016 (With Opponent’s Record At The Time)

Solomon Haumono (24-2-2), Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2), Alexander Flores (17-1-1), Alex Leapai (32-7-4), Shawndell Winters (13-2)

Parker Non-KO Wins Since March 2016 (With Opponent’s Record At The Time)

Carlos Takam (33-2-1), Andy Ruiz (29-0), Razvan Cojanu (16-2), Hughie Fury (20-0), Junior Fa (19-0), Derek Chisora (32-10), Derek Chisora II (32-11), Jack Massey (20-1)

The last three of those knockouts were immediately after his losses to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte as he tried to resurrect his career. Dimitreko should have been a tougher opponent than he was but the Russian left his heart on the plane and it ended up being a walkover. Other than him you can pretty much draw a line between Parker’s top tier opponents and the rest and anyone above that line goes the distance while anyone below it gets dropped.

This ain’t to say that Parker doesn’t have power. He’s dropped Chisora, he’s dropped Whyte, he’s dropped a few other jokers aside (didn’t finish them but he did get knockdowns)... but he doesn’t have elite power. Not the kind of hitting that blokes fear. Jack Massey displayed that in this bout by providing a very conservative strategic fight which prevented him from going down but also kinda prevented him from having much hope of winning either. Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, or Joe Joyce would have busted down the walls and put Massey on the canvas regardless... but that’s not how Parker operates. And honestly if people haven’t figured that out yet then that’s on them. We’ve each got all the evidence we require. You can’t build up imaginary expectations of a guy and then blame him when he fails to live up to them.

Although Joe Parker doesn’t help himself there. Literally every fight he predicts he’s gonna win via knockout. Then he hardly ever does. Granted, you kinda don’t believe him when he says it, there’s always some kinda hesitancy in the eyes. Also every boxer makes grand promises before every fight because they’re usually trying to sell pay-per-view tickets.

Joseph Parker has quick hands, he’s got a great chin, he’s very fit and durable... but he doesn’t hurt folks in the same way that the very best in the division can do. What he does instead is he tallies up points. He’s got a very accurate left jab and he can build into his combinations from there. That was on full display against Jack Massey just as much as his lack of crushing power was... and if you watched the bout properly then you’d have never been in any doubt as to who the superior fighter was.

First round Parker began fast with three left hooks on the charge, showing his intent from the outset. That round set the tone for everything that followed with Parker operating inside and Massey on the outside, with JP trapping him a couple times with combos on the ropes. Massey did begin to serve up some decent counter rights from the second round onwards. To minimal effect but they were at least good for buying him breathing room. Meanwhile Parker’s body shots supplied some hurt even if he did miss on a few hay-makers.

By the third we were seeing regular 3-4 punch combos from Parker with Massey stuck on the perimeter. The third was the best round from Parker so far, finally seeming to rock his opponent a bit. Andy Lee told him in the break to stay disciplined, keep working him over, and watch for the counter right. But the fourth was rather uneventful as Massey hung in after a nice right hand early until Parker pulled the round back late with some more hard shots on the ropes. The fifth was then a close one. Both dudes got warned for their use of elbows. Massey was happy to keep Parker in close where he could wrap him up and eliminate the chances of that right hand coming through behind the jab.

Into the sixth and Massey started well before a mean upper cut from Joe gave him something to worry about. Probably the best that Massey had shown to date yet he was already way behind on the scorecards. Tyson Fury was in the crowd and the broadcasters stuck a microphone in his face after this round and the champ confirmed that “Joe’s dominating”. Fury also predicted a late knockout for Parker... contributing to that whole problem by causing people to focus on the wrong things.

The seventh was quiet. Massey did land a few shots though Parker landed more, remaining the aggressor as he had all evening. The English boxing commentary folks are notoriously biased but while they all loved the heart shown by Massey, they all also admitted that he wasn’t winning rounds. By the eighth the finish line was in sight and JM was keen to slow things down further, really leaning into the clinches and getting annoying with it – to the extent that he was docked a point for his shenanigans having earned an official warning in the previous round.

Into the ninth and there was more steady business from Parker although at this stage it was becoming clear that he wasn’t going to be able to ramp up the intensity enough for a stoppage. Massey didn’t have another gear to go to but he did keep toiling away. Parker hit him with a few more heavy ones and by the tenth round there was a bit of blood and swelling over Massey’s left eye. Nothing that broke him down though.

There was beaming pride from Jack Massey at the final bell despite having clearly lost the fight. Parker seemed to take it all in his stride. No celebrations. Probably a bit disappointed that it went the distance... although there was an inkling that with a full twelve rounds at his disposal it might’ve unfolded differently. He was starting to get to the Englishman but he simply didn’t have the power to accelerate the demise.

Still, it was a dominant performance against a compact and technical fighter. The judges then threw a curveball by scoring it 96-93, 97-92, and 97-93... all in favour of Parker for the unanimous victory but honestly if those cards flattered anyone then it was Jack Massey. It wasn’t unreasonable to give all ten rounds to Parker (which with the docked point would’ve meant a 100-89 score). Just because he didn’t win them as emphatically as possible didn’t mean he wasn’t still winning them all.

Not that it matters. A win is a win and this sets Parker up for a quick turnaround having sustained very little damage. Parker did suggest afterwards, amidst plenty of polite respect for his opponent, that it “if he came forward it would have been a different fight”. He’s probably not wrong, so it goes. However the most interesting quotes afterwards came from trainer Andy Lee, as per. Lee is always one to keep it honest in the aftermath and his perspective was that Parker did some good things, he just didn’t do them often enough for his liking.

Andy Lee: “More of everything. Pick up on everything. Feet, head, sharper with everything. I think he’s just beginning again, it’s a rebuilding process and the ten rounds will do him good. It’s very hard to look good with someone who’s being so negative. Those are the hardest opponents to look good against. You saw when Jack stood and they traded it was an exciting fight but it was too little too often.”

That, in the space of twenty seconds immediately after the fight, is all you need to know, really. A perfect summation. Joe was solid but against an unproductive opponent a few of his weaker tendencies shone through despite still thoroughly controlling things for the victory. The rounds will do him good but he’ll want to get back out there again soon with a few improvements.

This was not a title bout. It was a sneaky wee undercard effort to get back to winning ways and he got what he needed from it. Big picture ponderings were fair after the Joyce defeat. After this random and mostly uneventful minor fight... nope, not really. Take it all at face value and then chill and move on, just like Joseph Parker will do. The wider kiwi sports media might be overreacting but let’s be honest this fight will be long forgotten by the time he steps into the ring for the next one. No dramas whatsoever.

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