Higgins: Parker-Chisora in the works for July
By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker is available to fight WBC #13 Derrick Chisora in July if the terms can be agreed on.
“Joseph will fight anyone if it’s the right money and the right terms, so absolutely he would fight Chisora,” Parker’s promoter David Higgins told Sky Sports. “It’s up to [promoter Eddie Hearn] to make a deal that’s attractive. There have been [discussions], and that’s a fight we’re planning for July. It’s very simple. My job is to get the best deal possible for Parker, and it’s halcyon times in boxing with massive money flowing. Basically, I’m going to have a pretty frank conversation with the major players [Eddie Hearn, Bob Arum and Al Haymon] and see who will put the best deal on the table for Joseph.
Joseph Parker offers to fight Anthony Joshua as Jarrell Miller fails drugs test
07:28, Apr 18 2019
Joseph Parker says he's "very ready and willing" to fight Anthony Joshua after scheduled opponent Jarrell Miller allegedly failed a drugs test.
Joshua's debut fight in the United States could be in doubt with American Miller reportedly testing positive for GW1516 (a metabolic modulator also known as cardarine and endurobol) in a VADA test taken March 20.
The substance would enable an athlete to increase their endurance, both with running and lifting weights in the gym. It was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list in 2009.
Miller is scheduled to fight Joshua, who holds the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts, on June 1 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn says "we are working with all relevant parties and will update with more details soon."
Jarrell Miller's world heavyweight title shot against Anthony Joshua might not happen after the American allegedly failed a drugs test.
The development around Miller saw several heavyweights put their hands up to be a replacement, including Parker, England's Dillian Whyte (25-1, 18KOs) American Michael Hunter (16-1, 11KOs), and Briton Joe Joyce (8-0, 8KOs).
Parker (25-2, 19 KOs), who has been training heavily in Auckland since his last fight in December, is eager for a rematch.
He would need to take Joshua on six weeks notice which would mean another rushed training camp in Las Vegas but he does have a tactical data base to work off.
Replying to @85HPS @joeboxerparker
Lets ask Joe? I am sure he has been training non stop, waiting for the right opponent, that opponent is here #teamparker
@joeboxerparker
Very ready and willing ???
Parker lost his WBO belt to Joshua by a unanimous points decision in Cardiff last year, the only time Joshua has been taken the distance in his professional career.
Parker is weighing up his future. He has the possibility of signing for multi-fight deals with Hearn in the UK or Top Rank's Bob Arum in the United States. Those deals would guarantee him millions of dollars
Parker's other option is to remain independent and try to bolster his stocks through an impressive win.
He had been eyeing a July fight in London with rugged Brit Dereck Chisora.
British media suggested a short-list of replacement options for Joshua if Miller is suspended was down to five fighters - Hunter, Luis Ortiz, Adam Kownacki, Kubrat Pulev, and Manuel Charr.
A frustrated Hearn told the Daily Mail: "I spoke to AJ last night. It's not an ideal situation and we have to wait and see what happens with Jarrell.
"If he is unable to fight, AJ will still be fighting June 1 in Madison Square Garden. He has told me he will fight absolutely anyone and so we are looking at our options right now."
Salita Promotions, which represents Miller, said it was obtaining more information about VADA's finding and "will have more to say soon on this developing situation."
It's likely he will look to have a B sample processed.
During the promotional tour for the fight, Miller said both fighters had agreed to between 10 and 12 weeks of drug testing in the buildup to the bout.
Miller is likely to face a hearing before the New York State Athletic Commission to decide whether he will be allowed to fight on June 1.
Miller isn't new to doping controversies. The 30-year-old was kickboxing in 2014 when he tested positive for methylhexaneamine in a urine sample and was suspended for nine months by the California State Athletic Commission.
Stuff
Higgins should throw Parker into the AJ fight on June 1
I see little downside.....
Victorious Dereck Chisora 'perfect opponent' for Joseph Parker
Duncan Johnstone
British heavyweight Dereck Chisora remains keen on a clash with Joseph Parker as the Kiwi sorts out his fighting future.
Chisora battled his way to a unanimous points decision over Senad Gashi in London last weekend.
The labored victory has done nothing for his hopes of being a late replacement to fight unified champion Anthony Joshua in New York but hyped talk continues of a July clash with Parker in the British capital.
Parker is weighing up his options with Chisora a real possibility though he has a United States alternative and also has to decided whether he makes a lucrative long-term move with either British promoter Eddie Hearn or American legend Bob Arum. Alternatively Parker can stay independent.
Parker's adviser David Higgins told Stuff there was nothing to announce yet with the process "still under way".
Joseph Parker hasn't fought since knocking out Alexander Flores last December.
A clash with Chisora, likely on the undercard to Dillian Whyte's July 20 announced fight with Canada-based Colombian Oscar Rivas at London's O2 Arena, appears to be the quickest solution for Parker who has been idle since early December.
He has a willing opponent.
"From our side it can be made very, very easily," Chisora's manager David Haye told Sky Sports in the UK.
"Joseph Parker is a great fighter. He's a friend of mine, he's used my gym in the past when he's been over here.
"I think that fight in the summer is great. Joseph Parker is the perfect opponent for Derek.
"He is someone else who is coming off a good run of form, obviously he's lost to Dillian Whyte and to Anthony Joshua, but apart from that he's got a perfect record.
"He's known in the UK and people know he comes to fight. He's always in exciting fights; Dillian Whyte was very exciting. I hope him and his team are ready to come over, because Derek definitely is ready and we can make a fight with Parker.
"I think both of their styles would gel really well, Joseph is a lot younger, a hell of lot younger than Derek, but Derek has got the experience. He's been there, done it and mixed with the very best. It would be a good fight for the fans."
Chisora would be a worthy test for Parker to hit his rest button. The 35-year-old's heavy hands and canny ring craft make him a threat but if Parker is to produce a second shot at a world title he needs to account for someone like Chisora, backing his superior speed and growing power.
Meanwhile, the man Parker beat to win the WBO title in Auckland in late 2016, is the latest fighter to put his hand up to face Joshua after American Jarrell Miller was ruled out with doping offences.
Mexican-American Andy Ruiz Jnr stopped Alexander Dimitrenko in five rounds in his latest comeback fight as he aligned himself with Al Haymon's Professional Boxing Champions outfit.
"I'm ready for whoever. I've been on a long layoff — six, seven, eight months. The main thing is to get back in the gym, keep training, try to get in better shape, and move on," Ruiz, 29, told Fight Hub after his win.
Asked if he would step in quickly to take on Joshua at sort notice, Ruiz didn't hesitate.
"That would be a great opportunity if Al Haymon could talk to Eddie Hearn. I think it would be an exciting fight," he said.
"I got some rounds in. If they give me the fight, I'll go to the gym and start working out right now, like, right now and get ready for that fight on June 1."
Ruiz also expressed interest in fighting stablemate Deontay Wilder, the WBC champion, and Whyte.
Stuff
Boxing: A bore rather than war as Dereck Chisora stays on track for Joseph Parker fight
23 Apr, 2019 4:00pm 3 minutes to read
By: Patrick McKendry
Dereck Chisora remains on track for a possible fight against Kiwi Joseph Parker after labouring to a unanimous decision victory over Senad Gashi in London at the weekend.
Englishman Chisora had hoped for an exciting fight to help his claims of a bout against Anthony Joshua in New York on June 1 following Jarrell Miller's drugs test failure, but his performance was anything but against Gashi, who was determined to survive the 10 rounds at London's O2 Arena.
A decision on WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world champion Joshua's opponent for Madison Square Garden will probably be made this week. Kiwi Junior Fa, currently sparring with WBC world champion Deontay Wilder, has also put his hand up, as has Chisora's big English rival Dillian Whyte.
What is most likely is that Whyte will fight a lesser opponent at the O2 Arena on July 20, with Chisora on the undercard and possibly against Parker, who is currently weighing up his long-term professional future. A fight in the United States is also a possibility for Parker.
The Chisora v Gashi fight was screened live in the United States on sports streaming platform DAZN and it would have impressed very few. Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn wants a big name for his man's first fight in the United States and it's unlikely to be Chisora.
"It made for a stinker of a fight," Chisora's manager David Haye told IFL TV. "It wasn't what we wanted. We wanted Dereck to put on a great performance. He was fit and strong and ready to go to war but you need two to tango and unfortunately Senad Gashi had other ideas."
Haye added: "It won't really excite the American fans."
Chisora, a rugged and durable fighter who has lost twice to Whyte but scored a notable recent victory when knocking out Carlos Takam, a former foe of Parker's, has built his reputation on aggression and all-out attack. His ring-name is "War".
But he found southpaw Gashi a puzzle he couldn't solve. The Albanian clearly wanted to survive rather than win but Chisora couldn't cut off the ring and hurt him.
Parker was originally scheduled to be Chisora's opponent for the bout but pulled out when a contract wasn't forthcoming.
Before the Gashi fight, Haye told Sky Sports UK that a Parker fight in the UK summer could be made "very, very easily".
"He's known in the UK and people know he comes to fight," Haye said of Parker. "He's always in exciting fights; Dillian Whyte was very exciting. I hope him and his team are ready to come over, because Derek definitely is ready and we can make a fight with Parker."
Chisora was in his first fight under new trainer Dave Coldwell, and the Yorkshireman told the Daily Express he was happy the fight against former WBO world champion Joseph Parker wasn't made.
"When they were talking about Parker I said 'I would rather it not be'," Coldwell said.
"Dereck, David and Sky wanted a big fight, I was like 's***, that's a big ask for his first fight under me.'"
In the main event of the night, Australian Lucas Browne was stopped with a body punch by improving Englishman Dave Allen. Browne has been talked about as a possible future opponent for Parker but his career appears all but over.
I still don't see enough money being in the Chisora fight for everyone at Team Parker to dine out on.
If Hearn is putting that on in the UK it's an undercard fight or sits on top of a Saturday night card with a stacked undercard that would require plenty of $$ so it's not a big money fight at all. Despite what we keep hearing from the nz media Parker is not a big drawcard in the UK especially not after his last few fights. I love Joe and am a big fan but that is fact. After the weekend Team Parker would be far better off going after the Dave Allen fight. Put it this way Allen v Chisora is a way bigger fight in the UK than Parker against either of them. Could see Parker being lined up for Pricey but again it's not worth anything near what Barry and Higgins seem to think a fight of that magnitude is worth
I figure if Parker/Hughie couldn't draw when Parker was the champ, there's little chance of his drawing on his own, unless it's with Whyte, AJ, or Tyson Fury. I agree, put him on the undercard with Allen, Joyce, or Dubois. Maybe even Chisora, which is where it's headed.
(04-28-2019, 02:18 PM)diehard Wrote: [ -> ]I figure if Parker/Hughie couldn't draw when Parker was the champ, there's little chance of his drawing on his own, unless it's with Whyte, AJ, or Tyson Fury. I agree, put him on the undercard with Allen, Joyce, or Dubois. Maybe even Chisora, which is where it's headed.
Hughie was his first UK fight and was with Hennessy Promotions... he has alot more exposure after fighting AJ and Whyte. With the 3 top guys not wanting to fight each other he will get another shot at the title soon enough as there is only so many fringe contenders available.