Joseph Parker vs Andy Ruiz: Champion of the World (… Boxing Organisation)
Where David Tua could not go, Joseph Parker has gone. Where Tom Heeney, Herbert Slade and Ted Morgan could not go, Joseph Parker has gone. He’s now achieved something that no kiwi heavyweight has ever done before and whatever the future holds, nobody can ever take that away from him.
It didn’t come easy. This was a bruising fight between two guys with similar enough strengths that neither was able to dominate. Ruiz was the aggressor, looking to betray a feisty home crowd by walking Joe around, trying to box with angles and get him on his heels. It was Ruiz who mostly controlled the distance with a rapid-quick jab and some lightning counterpunching. Perhaps Parker was too timid in the early rounds. Perhaps this was simply a step up that no amount of training can prepare you for – some lessons can only be learned in the ring.
So what we saw was Parker looking to throw his left jab and keep himself at a distance. Ruiz was patient with his shots but in a duel between two guys touted as having some of the quickest hands in the division, it was Ruiz who comfortably impressed more with his speed. Parker stalked and steered and couldn’t seem to do much damage with his left. Ruiz certainly had the better of the first four rounds.
You wouldn’t even realise that Parker had a height and reach advantage. Ruiz fought tall with a tidy orthodox stance, his hands kept high throughout, meanwhile Parker had the tendency to drop his leading hand and although he coped well with his superior footwork, at times that exposed a few defensive frailties. Sometimes he leans in a bit much, he doesn’t move his head well. Parker’s a guy you can counter and, as it happened, that was one of Ruiz’s best strengths. A couple of times Ruiz was able to land some sustained flurries. True to the nature of this fight though, it was never without a few heavy ones coming back the other way.
Parker picked it up when he quickened the pace and began targeting the body more. You could see a little puffiness developing around both eyes of Ruiz, while Parker had mark on his cheek. If the plan was to keep his opponent moving and take control as fatigue began to set in then that’s exactly what appeared to happen – Parker took the fifth and sixth, arguably even the fourth as well. It’s not so much that Ruiz was gassed but for whatever reason he just didn’t do enough, didn't land enough punches. He said afterwards that he felt he bossed the tempo and distance with his left jab and that was true yet from a leading position he allowed Parker back into it, unable to sustain the intensity he began the fight with.
There weren’t too many devastating hooks on show and neither fighter is known for having especially brutal power. Fair to say they both fought more conservatively than they have in the past as well. Still, there were shots from either side that would have dropped a weaker man. That combination of two guys who can take a heavy punch and then also not being quite the knockout artists that their records suggest meant that this was a fight always likely to go the full twelve. No knockdowns, not even a stumble. So it was but it was Parker that did more down the stretch.
When the cards were called, you could make an argument for either fighter so long as it was close. One judge called it a 114-114 draw, the other two had Parker 115-113 – Joe getting the benefit of a steadier rhythm and a better game-plan. Some writers had it a more comfortable Parker victory while others thought Ruiz was unlucky not to sneak it (I scored it a draw myself). Put it this way: Parker can justifiably feel he won and Ruiz can justifiably feel unlucky.
This was a fight that the Mexican could have won if he’d fought more confidently off the front foot and both camps suggested the possibility of a rematch at some stage in their careers. It’s not a performance that’ll strike fear into the hearts of the heavyweight elite. Anthony Joshua won’t have seen this and thought: ‘Nah screw Klitschko, I wanna fight this guy!’ Deontay Wilder won’t be shrinking away from Parker if those talks come to be, he’d see plenty of reason to back himself. That’s not a bad thing for Joseph.
We forget how young he is for a heavyweight contender, let alone the heavyweight champion that he is now. Parker is learning as quickly as anyone and this fight will have taught him a lot. Against a dude like Joshua, he’d probably cop too many on the chin to withstand and it’s doubtful that Joe has the power to hurt him back – but again he’s young and he’ll probably bulk up further as he goes. Plus with AJ focussed on WK that fight doesn’t have to happen for ages yet anyway.
Parker is a target now. The top lads will want to fight him for that belt, but lucky for him the very top lads are a bit busy at the moment and while his belt is a tasty one, Tyson Fury’s nasal proclivities mean there are a couple others there for the taking too. There's no need to push Joe out of his depth.
Kevin Barry talked about a well-earned rest for Parker except the problem with that is the WBO wants him defending this title within 120 days. David Haye was a name bandied about. David Haye, however, is fighting Tony Bellew in March so is shan’t be him. Instead Hughie Fury has emerged as the most likely guy. Fury is the younger cousin of, he’s a rising contender but he’s even younger than Parker and at this stage is probably a little overrated in the UK. It depends on the WBO’s view of things – there wouldn’t be too many arguments with Parker-Ruiz II which looms now as the best immediate choice for both of them.
Despite the defeat, Ruiz comes out of this with his reputation enhanced. He lasted 12 rounds for the first time in his career and showed plenty of the tools to justify his place as a future contender. He’ll be getting another title shot one day, it’s only a matter of when. His one major weakness was that he didn’t have the footwork to fully exploit his advantage inside with those slick hands. Keep up the fitness work he’d been doing in the lead in to this and that’s something that he can definitely improve.
As for the beleaguered rightsholders, as much as we’ve had reason to take shots at Duco and Sky Sports in the past for the slightly less than professional way they’ve handled Parker at times, this was a great show. There was a top drawer main event and several exiting fights on the undercard – Aussies Shannon O’Connell and Jeff Horn deserving of a lot of praise while Ghanaian Isaac Dogboe followed an organised performance with a speech worthy of any high school prizegiving. Curiously all three made very conspicuous reference to how great Duco had been for them. Who wants to bet they put it in the contract?
Of course there were still some dumb moments: Steve McIvor had a look of soullessness by the third or fourth time he was asked to shoehorn another Samoan tourism ad into the broadcast while the usually enjoyable Colonel Bob Sheridan’s late fight claim that Parker-Ruiz was one of the better heavyweight title fights of the last decade was beyond delusional. Also, while he’s getting better at these kinds of things, Monty Betham’s post-fight interviews were categorically hit or miss. He does his research which is a huge positive but questions like ‘how would you rate that out of ten’ are beyond dull.
Hey, that’s all part of playing the game, on the whole it was the best event they’ve put on yet in what might be Parker’s last fight in NZ for a little while (you never know, if the numbers come back promising he might have some bargaining power depending on who he fights next – though he’d probably do well to start fighting overseas anyway from a development standpoint). However special derision was earned by Duco bigwig David Higgins when Monty Betham asked him about Joe’s next steps and all he could muster was yet another dig at illegal streamers. Come on, bro. Your dude just won a world title, get your priorities in check and don’t be an antiquated arsehole.
With the new Duco/Top Rank link-up, it’ll be a thinker to see what happens next, where Parker fights, what country he fights in, who he fights, how it’s broadcast, what Duco’s involvement will be, if there’s a chance Kevin Barry gets dropped (no), how Parker’s profile overseas will be affected, whether his brother will get to keep fighting on the undercards, how quickly Parker wants to get back in the ring, how soon they look at trying to unify belts, etc.
Ahhh but for now let’s just sit back, take a deep breath and acknowledge that after more than a century of trying there is now a New Zealander in possession of a world heavyweight title and before doing anything else simply stop and consider how immense that is.