03-09-2017, 11:57 AM
Joseph Parker Expects Major Improvements From Andy Ruiz Fight
By Ryan Burton
Joseph Parker (22-0) made history in December when he became the first New Zealander to win a world championship in the heavyweight division. He defeated the then unbeaten Andy Ruiz (29-1) via majority decision in his homeland to capture the vacant WBO title.
"It was a dream to fight for the championship and to win it. I am very happy to be able to achieve that and there are a lot more things that I want to achieve," said Parker.
Next up for the 25-year-old is another unbeaten opponent in Hughie Fury (20-0). The cousin of former WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO champion Tyson Fury is Parker's mandatory challenger. Hughie has been out of the ring since last April, when he won a technical decision over veteran Fred Kassi.
May 6th is the date penciled in for the fight and when Parker's promoter Duco Events won the purse bid in January for the fight, it ensured his first defense would also be a home game.
"That is great to be able to go back to New Zealand to defend my title. It just shows that our team works hard to get things done and I am excited to be able to do it again at home," Parker stated.
Parker expects to be much sharper in his first title defense than he was versus Ruiz. He said he learned a lot from the experience and promises to be a better fighter in the future.
"There are a lot of things I learned from that fight. Things we did good and things we did not so good. Next time I fight we will see a big improvement. We saw what we didn't do well and will improve on it," Parker told BoxingScene.com.
By Ryan Burton
Joseph Parker (22-0) made history in December when he became the first New Zealander to win a world championship in the heavyweight division. He defeated the then unbeaten Andy Ruiz (29-1) via majority decision in his homeland to capture the vacant WBO title.
"It was a dream to fight for the championship and to win it. I am very happy to be able to achieve that and there are a lot more things that I want to achieve," said Parker.
Next up for the 25-year-old is another unbeaten opponent in Hughie Fury (20-0). The cousin of former WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO champion Tyson Fury is Parker's mandatory challenger. Hughie has been out of the ring since last April, when he won a technical decision over veteran Fred Kassi.
May 6th is the date penciled in for the fight and when Parker's promoter Duco Events won the purse bid in January for the fight, it ensured his first defense would also be a home game.
"That is great to be able to go back to New Zealand to defend my title. It just shows that our team works hard to get things done and I am excited to be able to do it again at home," Parker stated.
Parker expects to be much sharper in his first title defense than he was versus Ruiz. He said he learned a lot from the experience and promises to be a better fighter in the future.
"There are a lot of things I learned from that fight. Things we did good and things we did not so good. Next time I fight we will see a big improvement. We saw what we didn't do well and will improve on it," Parker told BoxingScene.com.