Parker Wants The Joshua Rematch – ‘It Would Be A Different Fight’
Joseph Parker wants a rematch with Anthony Joshua to avenge his loss.
Parker faced Joshua in 2018 as he lost his WBO Heavyweight Title via a unanimous decision. While he may have suffered a defeat, Parker was praised for lasting the distance. Joshua was undefeated with a 20-0 record at the time, which included 20 KO wins. Parker was the first man who managed to last the distance.
Parker would then lose his next fight against Dillian Whyte, suggesting he would no longer be the same fighters. However, since then, he has bounced back. His only defeat since the Whyte fight has been against Joe Joyce. Following that defeat, Parker has secured the biggest wins of his career.
The victory over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang made him the WBO Interim Heavyweight Champion. That means Parker is now the mandatory for Oleksandr Usyk’s Undisputed Heavyweight Title. While Usyk will rematch Fury on December 21, Parker was focused on facing Joshua to avenge his loss.
Parker On Joshua
“That would be cool. I think that would be awesome to have a rematch with Joshua. I want the biggest fights. Joshua is a massive name and he’s looked very good in his fights in Saudi Arabia. We’ll both be on the same card. It’ll be nice to do it again. We’ve both improved, and we’re different fighters. I feel it would be a different fight than we fought in 2018. I’d like to fight Usyk, but he’s fighting Tyson. AJ. I’d like to avenge the losses I’ve had. Joyce, but he’s fighting Chisora. Dillian Whyte, he’s been very quiet. Hrgovic would be cool, or Dubois,” Parker said
Joshua is expected to fight in September, with suggestions that he could box the winner of Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois. They face off on June 1 for the IBF Interim Heavyweight Belt. The winner could become the full champion if Usyk is stripped. The Ukrainian is contracted to rematch Fury, although his team has applied for an exemption to keep the belt.
Parker’s Options
Parker has plenty of other options if he cannot secure the Joshua fight. He could chase a rematch with Joyce to avenge that loss. Whyte has also made his comeback recently, allowing him to correct that loss. Parker may even target a fight with Tyson Fury. He has previously ruled out fighting Tyson since they are stablemates.
But following his recent rise and Fury’s apparent decline, a narrative is in place to make it happen. There is also the possibly of rematching Zhang. After the loss, Zhang’s team indicated they wanted to run things back. If Zhang beats Wilder, a rematch could happen near the end of the year. Parker backed Wilder to come out on top.
“They both have the ability to knock each other out. With this fight Wilder looks different, but Zhang has trimmed down so his conditioning is going to be better, but I have to lean towards Wilder in this fight. I feel like Zhang has good movement but he doesn’t have the best head movement and if Wilder can light him up and catch him with the right hand… that’s what I think is going to happen,” Parker stated
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