Joseph Parker

[NakiFan]

Personally my favourite is the McDonald's Angus Clubhouse Burger...

[diehard]

...and this:

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/other/joseph-parker-one-fight-away-from-shot-at-a-world-heavyweight-title

[bart]

Mandatory doesn't mean too much, Povetkin has been mandatory to Wilder for 1-2 years

[diehard]

Except that the IBF isn't playing around anymore after Klit snubbed them for many years. Stripped Fury, ordered a quick Martin vs Glazkov, got the mandatory expiry date, and want the winner to face the Martin vs AJ winner by January 27.

[Infern0]

The IBF is not a real world title anyways, it's a paper title that currently has zero credibility even as an alphabet strap.

Sure it'll be enough to fool the casuals, but lets be honest the world heavyweight champion is the winner of fury-klitschko 2, the ibf, wbc and wba regular are all christmas tree decorations.

If Parker does manage to win the ibf belt i hope they dont start calling him the world champion, he'll be the ibf title holder, if he unifies it against the lineal heavyweight champ, only then is he the world champion

[NakiFan]

All it takes is someone to create exciting fights and opportunities within an alphabet to change the view on the title. Consider the IBF quickly...they currently have 3 undefeated contenders gunning for the title. Young and hungry fighters keen to defend their belt...

Call it what you want...but to be honest out of the 3 upcoming bouts (wlad v fury) (deontay v potv) (AJ v CM)...I'm most interested in the IBF.

I just hope they continue putting good match ups together...which I'm sure is what fans are wanting....

[Infern0]

(02-27-2016, 09:56 PM)diehard Wrote: Except that the IBF isn't playing around anymore after Klit snubbed them for many years.  Stripped Fury, ordered a quick Martin vs Glazkov, got the mandatory expiry date, and want the winner to face the Martin vs AJ winner by January 27.

Also, note IBF mandatory rules section 5e which clearly states

2. WBA, WBC and WBO Champions For the purpose of unification of titles, the Champions of the World Boxing Association (“WBA”), the World Boxing Council (“WBC”), and the World Boxing Organization (“WBO”) may be designated as “elite contenders” and may be permitted to fight for the unified title. Any unification bout, if approved by the Championships Committee, will take priority over the mandatory. Despite the general prohibition in Rules 5 A.2.(b); B.2.; and D.1.(a) above, the Champion may box a WBC, WBA or WBO champion within sixty (60) days of the mandatory due date. 

So a unification match can be taken before the mandatory purse bid date, which effectivley means if Joshua wins he can get 2 voluntaries in and then when the purse bid is approaching to fight parker, he could decide to fight Tyson Fury instead, which I think is VERY likely to happen, as why take a risky fight when possibly the biggest fight in british boxing history is on the table.

Likewise if Martin wins, he could elect to take a unification with Deontay Wilder. 

Then after that the winner has the option to either vacate or go to purse bids against Parker which would likely push parkers shot out until may or june of 2017. 

Of course by next year, maybe fury, joshua, martin or wilder are all no longer title holders. 


Many possible permutations, it's far too early to speculate on if, when or where parker will get a title shot.

[Infern0]

(02-27-2016, 11:26 PM)NakiFan Wrote: All it takes is someone to create exciting fights and opportunities within an alphabet to change the view on the title. Consider the IBF quickly...they currently have 3 undefeated contenders gunning for the title. Young and hungry fighters keen to defend their belt...

Call it what you want...but to be honest out of the 3 upcoming bouts  (wlad v fury) (deontay v  potv) (AJ v CM)...I'm most interested in the IBF.  

I just hope they continue putting hood match ups together...which I'm sure is what fans are wanting....

My rankings are 

Fury
Wlad
Povetkin
Wilder
Martin
Joshua

So I consider the IBF to be the least of all the belts at the moment, Wilder-Povetkin is probably the most intreaguing fight, followed by Joshua-Martin, and finally Wlad-Fury

of course it's all down to personal taste, but Fury is the current lineal champion, and the lineage must be respected. 

[diehard]

Your list looks about right, Infern0. All three title fights are interesting. But it's not for certain that Wilder and Fury will fight their challengers. To me, it's all about who the champ is rather than the belt. For instance, Klit made the belt when he was champ. We talk about the linear champ, but has he EVER had all four belts. Not sure, but I doubt it. If he did, it was very brief.

[diehard]

Paul Lewis: Real risk in Joseph Parker's heavyweight clash

Joseph Parker's world title fight is now so close, he could tap it on the end of the nose with his jab.

There's just one thing in his way: a tough French-Cameroonian fighter built like a block of flats and with his own title dreams.

These are heady days in heavyweight boxing. Parker's proposed clash with the dangerous Carlos Takam is just one of four fights imbued with something rare in boxing's hype-ridden, careful career manipulation: real risk.

The global heavyweight scene now has four top bouts in which it is difficult to pick winners. At the peak is the return match between hedgehog-eating motormouth Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko in May for the WBA and WBO belts. The WBC title bout between rookie US champion Deontay Wilder and Russian Alexander Povetkin is yet to be confirmed but has gone to a purse bid (where the highest bidder wins the right to stage and promote the bout). Wilder must fight Povetkin as mandatory challenger and will want to get this fight out of the way so he is free to challenge the winner of Fury-Klitschko in a reunification bout.

Whether he wins remains to be seen; Povetkin is a tough cookie, more on that later.

The IBF belt is up for grabs between another novice champion, Charles Martin of the US, and the next big hope of heavyweight boxing (according to British hype), Anthony Joshua, in April. Martin, like Wilder a champion who has fought virtually no one of note, is risking his crown. Joshua, if he loses, risks being seen as an empty threat.

Parker's fight with Takam is yet to be confirmed but is an eliminator to find the mandatory challenger who must be given a title shot at the winner of Martin-Joshua (or the champion can be stripped of his belt).

But can he beat Takam, ranked No 5 by the IBF and WBC and No 6 by the WBO? Few in these parts have heard of him but the 35-year-old is built like a fire station, can give and receive power shots, has had twice as many fights as Parker and more quality opponents.

His one defeat, apart from a loss by decision to a journeyman early in his 36-fight career, was to Povetkin who knocked him out after one of the fights of the year in 2014. It was a slugfest which Povetkin settled with a vicious right-left combination in the ninth round and another in the 10th to drop Takam cold.

Parker's last opponent, Jason Bergman, rated Parker ahead of Wilder (with whom Bergman has sparred) but behind Povetkin (also a sparring partner). Bergman would not repeat his assessment of Wilder on camera, probably because he wants to keep his options open with the WBC champ.

Povetkin had the edge because Bergman felt he could see most of Parker's punches coming whereas Povetkin was far harder to read. "Parker's right there with Povetkin, the difference is that you don't see Povetkin coming. He's so quick and tight and smooth."

That analysis is interesting as Bergman's game plan against Parker was essentially defensive, covering up and waiting for Parker to tire. It's way easier to read punches if you are not throwing much yourself.

Parker will have a height, reach and speed advantage while the heavier-set Takam is a pressure fighter who banks on power shots delivered courtesy of a tough chin withstanding what his opponent throws at him as he gets in range to score. In their bout, Takam rocked Povetkin once - and the Russian had never been down before his resounding defeat by former champ Klitschko in 2013.

If Parker can throw combinations, as Povetkin did to close the door against Takam, he can win. Few fighters, no matter how iron their chin, can withstand the destructive power of combinations delivered effectively.

Takam has beaten some of the same foes as Parker (he fought and TKO'd veteran South African Frans Botha a year before Parker did and KO'd Brazilian heavyweight Marcelo Luiz Nascimento last year, about 12 months after Parker stopped him).

But Takam has also fought well-performed boxers such as Cuba's Mike Perez (only two losses in 24 bouts, including one to Povetkin). Perez drew with Takam, although most thought Takam had won. He also beat the ageing but still dangerous US heavyweight Tony Thompson, who fought (and lost) twice against Klitschko.

If he can stay out of trouble (Takam has 25 knockouts in his 33 wins), Parker's greater skills could prevail. Even if he doesn't, it isn't necessarily the end of the world. Povetkin has come back strongly after going the distance with Klitschko but looking outmatched against the much bigger man who tired him by leaning on him and had him down four times, a lesson the 2.01m Wilder will have noted.

Takam himself has to take this fight to get back into contention after being floored by Povetkin - and Parker is only 24 and well able to work his way back into calculations.

Predictions for the big four fights: Martin to beat Joshua; Wilder to beat Povetkin; Parker to beat Takam and Klitschko to beat Fury.

- NZ Herald