01-25-2020, 11:50 AM
Joseph Parker's long term future unclear with Oleksandr Usyk fight unlikely
Mat Kermeen
Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker works the pads with power during a training session at his Las Vegas base.
Aspirations of gaining a shot at his old WBO belt within the next year are fading fast for Joseph Parker.
About as quickly as the mooted fight with Oleksandr Usyk, that could have brought that opportunity, is falling off the radar.
The Kiwi heavyweight will fight in Texas on February 29 - possibly against Mariusz Wach who is one of four options - in a fight Parker is expected to win comfortably.
Joseph Parker won the then-vacant WBO heavyweight title with a majority decision victory over Andy Ruiz Jr.
Beyond that contest, on the undercard of Mikey Garcia's welterweight clash with Jessie Vargas, the future is murky.
Talk of a fight between Parker (26-2) and the undefeated Usyk (17-0), a former cruiserweight king who held all four major world title belts before moving up to the big boys division, has been doing the rounds due to the possibility of the WBO stripping Anthony Joshua because of his commitment to his IBF mandatory defence against Kubrat Pulev.
David Higgins is confident of a title shot for Joseph Parker but is unsure how it will materialise.
But Parker's manager David Higgins has told Stuff that now seems unlikely and ironically it's expected to be Usyk's team who will support the WBO granting Joshua an extension.
"If everyone agrees, the sanctioning body, promoters, managers then such an extension could potentially happen," Higgins said.
"Right now it's up in the air. It's going to be fascinating to see how it plays out."
Oleksandr Usyk won his heavyweight debut against Chazz Witherspoon last October.
If Joshua was forced to vacate his WBO belt it would open the door for Usyk and Parker - the number one and two contenders - to fight for the vacant title, an opportunity Higgins says Team Parker would jump at.
Higgins believes Usyk's team will be backing the extension on a risk vs reward strategy, aka money.
Talking in hypothetical figures, Higgins says Usyk could fight Parker for a vacant title for US$5 million when a title challenge against Joshua could possibly earn him somewhere around US$10 to $US15 million.
Joseph Parker will fight in February but his future beyond that is
murky.
Joseph Parker will fight in February but his future beyond that is murky.
Higgins, who has a relationship with Usyk's manager Egis Klimas, says it's likely Usyk and his team will protect their mandatory position by taking a tune-up fight and wait for Joshua, in all likelihood, to dispatch Pulev.
"I think the problem is that Usyk sees Joseph as high risk, styles make fights, Joseph is well suited to Usyk so I'd say Usyk would rather not fight Joseph.
"I'm not saying Usyk is scared of Parker but it's a risk hurt business and Usyk's camp would see Parker as too high risk before Joshua, that's what I'm suggesting," Higgins said.
Joseph Parker's last fight was a one-sided win over Alex Leapai.
Higgins says he is full of respect for Klimas who he rates as "a bit of a genius" when it comes to the business side of boxing.
There might not be a clear path for Parker to a world title shot right now but Higgins says the chances are it will happen within 18 months.
"You can't plan two years ahead in boxing because it's fluid. The rankings change every day, upsets happen, injuries happen, opportunities come out of the blue," Higgins said.
"For Joe, you can't predict his future, there's no crystal ball, all you can do is keep as fit as possible and fight ready and keep winning and the title shot will come."
He highlighted Andy Ruiz Jr - who Parker beat to win his WBO crown - receiving a late call up to fight Joshua at Madison Square Garden and causing one of the biggest upsets since James "Buster" Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in 1990.
Many will argue Parker doesn't deserve another shot without another major scalp on his record.
His last credible victory came against Hughie Fury - who has since lost to Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Povetkin - way back in September 2017.
There was no shame in losing his belt to Anthony Joshua or his subsequent loss to Dillian Whyte but post those defeats Parker has only beaten fringe top 100 fighter Alexander Flores and a well past his use-by date Alex Leapai but the WBO ranking, plus a ranking of eight with the WBC and 12 with the IBF still place Parker in good stead.
"Provided he takes care of business and keeps winning the chances of him fighting for the title again within 18 months are good," Higgins said.
One name that could come back into focus for Parker is Dereck Chisora. It was tipped to happen last year before Parker withdrew from negotiations due to a spider bite.
Chisora has also been linked with Usyk but if the Ukrainian southpaw waits for his cash-cow in Joshua, Chisora and Parker could finally find themselves together in the ring.
Stuff
Mat Kermeen
Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker works the pads with power during a training session at his Las Vegas base.
Aspirations of gaining a shot at his old WBO belt within the next year are fading fast for Joseph Parker.
About as quickly as the mooted fight with Oleksandr Usyk, that could have brought that opportunity, is falling off the radar.
The Kiwi heavyweight will fight in Texas on February 29 - possibly against Mariusz Wach who is one of four options - in a fight Parker is expected to win comfortably.
Joseph Parker won the then-vacant WBO heavyweight title with a majority decision victory over Andy Ruiz Jr.
Beyond that contest, on the undercard of Mikey Garcia's welterweight clash with Jessie Vargas, the future is murky.
Talk of a fight between Parker (26-2) and the undefeated Usyk (17-0), a former cruiserweight king who held all four major world title belts before moving up to the big boys division, has been doing the rounds due to the possibility of the WBO stripping Anthony Joshua because of his commitment to his IBF mandatory defence against Kubrat Pulev.
David Higgins is confident of a title shot for Joseph Parker but is unsure how it will materialise.
But Parker's manager David Higgins has told Stuff that now seems unlikely and ironically it's expected to be Usyk's team who will support the WBO granting Joshua an extension.
"If everyone agrees, the sanctioning body, promoters, managers then such an extension could potentially happen," Higgins said.
"Right now it's up in the air. It's going to be fascinating to see how it plays out."
Oleksandr Usyk won his heavyweight debut against Chazz Witherspoon last October.
If Joshua was forced to vacate his WBO belt it would open the door for Usyk and Parker - the number one and two contenders - to fight for the vacant title, an opportunity Higgins says Team Parker would jump at.
Higgins believes Usyk's team will be backing the extension on a risk vs reward strategy, aka money.
Talking in hypothetical figures, Higgins says Usyk could fight Parker for a vacant title for US$5 million when a title challenge against Joshua could possibly earn him somewhere around US$10 to $US15 million.
Joseph Parker will fight in February but his future beyond that is
murky.
Joseph Parker will fight in February but his future beyond that is murky.
Higgins, who has a relationship with Usyk's manager Egis Klimas, says it's likely Usyk and his team will protect their mandatory position by taking a tune-up fight and wait for Joshua, in all likelihood, to dispatch Pulev.
"I think the problem is that Usyk sees Joseph as high risk, styles make fights, Joseph is well suited to Usyk so I'd say Usyk would rather not fight Joseph.
"I'm not saying Usyk is scared of Parker but it's a risk hurt business and Usyk's camp would see Parker as too high risk before Joshua, that's what I'm suggesting," Higgins said.
Joseph Parker's last fight was a one-sided win over Alex Leapai.
Higgins says he is full of respect for Klimas who he rates as "a bit of a genius" when it comes to the business side of boxing.
There might not be a clear path for Parker to a world title shot right now but Higgins says the chances are it will happen within 18 months.
"You can't plan two years ahead in boxing because it's fluid. The rankings change every day, upsets happen, injuries happen, opportunities come out of the blue," Higgins said.
"For Joe, you can't predict his future, there's no crystal ball, all you can do is keep as fit as possible and fight ready and keep winning and the title shot will come."
He highlighted Andy Ruiz Jr - who Parker beat to win his WBO crown - receiving a late call up to fight Joshua at Madison Square Garden and causing one of the biggest upsets since James "Buster" Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in 1990.
Many will argue Parker doesn't deserve another shot without another major scalp on his record.
His last credible victory came against Hughie Fury - who has since lost to Kubrat Pulev and Alexander Povetkin - way back in September 2017.
There was no shame in losing his belt to Anthony Joshua or his subsequent loss to Dillian Whyte but post those defeats Parker has only beaten fringe top 100 fighter Alexander Flores and a well past his use-by date Alex Leapai but the WBO ranking, plus a ranking of eight with the WBC and 12 with the IBF still place Parker in good stead.
"Provided he takes care of business and keeps winning the chances of him fighting for the title again within 18 months are good," Higgins said.
One name that could come back into focus for Parker is Dereck Chisora. It was tipped to happen last year before Parker withdrew from negotiations due to a spider bite.
Chisora has also been linked with Usyk but if the Ukrainian southpaw waits for his cash-cow in Joshua, Chisora and Parker could finally find themselves together in the ring.
Stuff