Parker v ??
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Wilder has genuine power in that right hand but Can’t see him unifying the titles .
I’d prefer if joe was fighting wilder with the winner fighting Joshua , don’t mind his chances there .
I think Joshua might stop them both unfortunately. -
I've only seen the brief highlights but Wilder's wild swinging sure seems to get a bit of help from the ref. He often connects with his forearm on the back or side of the head and at one point it was MMA-ish as he was using elbows before a throw.
I don't see Brit refs (or at least refs operating in a UK fight) giving him that leeway. -
Great comeback from Wilder, but Ortiz missed a golden opportunity.
No doubting his chin and the power in his right hand, but some very dodgy blows in the lead up to the knockout.
Joshua will jab him to death.
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@mikethesnow cart before the horse...
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After that fight I give Wilder a serious chance against AJ. Yes his technique is horrible and is wild, but his chin held up very well, something that looked like it would be his downfall earlier in his career, he's fitter than AJ, and his power is something else. It wouldn't suprise me if Wilder stopped him late tbh, hopefully thi fight gets made within the next year or so.
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@raznomore That would be nice as much as I can't see it happening.
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@african-monkey said in Parker v ??:
After that fight I give Wilder a serious chance against AJ. Yes his technique is horrible and is wild, but his chin held up very well, something that looked like it would be his downfall earlier in his career, he's fitter than AJ, and his power is something else. It wouldn't suprise me if Wilder stopped him late tbh, hopefully thi fight gets made within the next year or so.
If AJ v Wider goes ahead it will be interesting to see where the fight takes place. I would think that AJs camp wants to go stateside to open (and milk) that market but IMO that would be crazy when you see what Wilder gets away with on home ground.
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@crucial It has to take place in the UK. AJ sells out stadiums in a matter of minutes where as Wilder only really attracts 12-13,000 in his home state of Alabama or Brooklyn like he did on the weekend.
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@african-monkey said in Parker v ??:
@crucial It has to take place in the UK. AJ sells out stadiums in a matter of minutes where as Wilder only really attracts 12-13,000 in his home state of Alabama or Brooklyn like he did on the weekend.
yeah I wouldve thought Wembley was a no brainer ,
Wilders PPV sales are nothing to rave over either
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@damo Yup, have to say he's been poor as a pro. Don't know what fight was worse out of this one and the Hunter Sam fight he had 2 fights back. He's got a bit of hype behind him but he is extremely slow on his feet and very basic. His fitness isn't the best either. Don't think the commentators were very impressed with that performance haha.
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@african-monkey more than half of the fight was spent with the fighters clinching. Ref seemed powerless to stop it.
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With Fa it always seems like his trainers have banked in his ability to lower the boom. No cardio no real combinations. As said "very basic". It's a shame because he has real power but not much else. I still back him to make a title run at some stage though. Just needs better trainers.
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@raznomore He could also commit to his jab a bit more as he does have a pretty decent jab, he just doesn't use it enough for my liking, and yes he does need better trainers. At this stage of his career though, I can't see him making any title run I reckon everyone in the HW top 30 beats him.
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@african-monkey totally agree in the jab and overstated the title run. I think he will get a fight for a title eventually because I expect the titles to change hands a few times in the next few years.
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Just reading some of the comments made by Parker on The Gloves Are Off.
He sounds very calm and collected. I know what is likely to happen is Parker gets dealt to and worse than the Jab-a-thon that was Tua's title shot. But he seems legit ready for this. Joshua was respectful while also confident but there is an edge to Parker I have not seen before. I hope it carries into the fight.
Credit NZ Herald but Im not linking to it...
"I want him to tell me how he's going to knock me out," Anthony Joshua asks the interviewer sitting between himself and Joseph Parker. "What round do you want?", replies Parker.
And so goes the back and forth between the two heavyweights in their Gloves are Off interview which was shot in January and is currently screening on Sky Sports UK.
The face-to-face between the two protagonists who will meet in Cardiff on April 1 NZT has become a traditional fixture for Sky, a major backer of Joshua's, but rarely has he been as subdued as he is in this one against Parker.
Joshua appears to have enormous respect for Parker (just as he had for Wladmir Klitschko before his epic win over the former champion at Wembley in April last year), due to the New Zealand-Samoan's upbringing and particularly his amateur background, and it will have grown after this performance.
A stoney-faced Parker doesn't concede a centimetre in the 15-minute face-off, an attitude he will need to take to the ring with him in front of a sold-out crowd of 80,000 at the Principality Stadium.
The 26-year-old Parker has a comeback for everything his 28-year-old opponent says. It would have been understandable if he had looked a little uncertain at times under the bright lights in front of the similarly undefeated Joshua, but there is none of that and all credit to him.
"This fight's exciting," Parker says. "He's a young champion, I'm a young champion. There are belts on the line. Come March 31 I'm going to chase him around; my goal is to beat him up and knock him out. That's what I want to do."
Joshua: "I'm not going to let him catch me. I don't think he's got enough power in those hands to detonate on my chin and knock me out. And when I'm standing there and coming back, I want to see how he unfolds."
Parker: "He doesn't move as well as I do. The way to beat him will be speed and movement. I don't think he can catch me."
Joshua: "He says I've got a glass chin, I want to see if he's got the power to detonate on it.
Parker: "Oh trust me, I've got the power."
Joshua: "Are you gong to knock me out?"
Parker: "Yeah, of course I am."
Joshua: "I may not be as durable, but I can definitely take a punch, and get up and keep going, and get the win."
Joshua, ranked the top heavyweight in the world by the influential Ring magazine (who rate Parker as the "dark horse" of the division), is an Olympic gold medallist, and has won all 20 of his professional fights by knockout.
And yet, after only taking up the sport at the age of 18, he has always appeared conscious of his lack of a long amateur background. In the ring after he knocked out Klitschko, he told the crowd: "I'm not perfect, but I'm trying."
His concession that he's not as durable as Parker appears a significant one and he listens carefully as Parker tells interviewer Johnny Nelson, a former cruiserweight, his brief life story.
Parker: "I was born in New Zealand. I'm a New Zealand-Samoan. My parents were both born in Samoa and came to New Zealand for a brighter future. My dad is named after Jack Dempsey, so his name's Dempsey. He has a passion for the sport and he introduced myself and my younger brother to it.
"At a young age, about four or five, we started hitting pads. At the age of 12 I had my first amateur fight. I won that. At the age of 16 I started travelling the world representing my country and from then on I thought I could turn this into a profession because I love the sport so much."
Asked about Parker's strength's, Joshua says: "His background… he's solid because of where his parents have come from, that's something you can't take away. For a man who was boxing since [age] five, I give you credit because that's experience that you can't take away. It's just a clash of the titans – JP against AJ, AJ against JP, let's rock and roll."
Parker is asked how Joshua's many British fans would react to a defeat: "I think it would be very hard for them to handle it, or even accept it," he says, adding: "A defeat will only make him better and he can bounce back from it."
Joshua: "It will kill me, I don't want to lose, I don't want to lose."
At the end the pair are asked if they will shake hands. They do, with Parker saying: "Good luck and may the best champion win."
A psychological round one to Parker.
