Joshua has nothing to fear from Kiwi challenger
WHAT THE WORLD MEDIA THOUGHT:
Kiwi champion Joseph Parker does not ‘‘pose a serious threat’’ to world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, leading boxing websites claim.
Parker’s majority points decision win over Hughie Fury was described as underwhelming by the boxing press.
‘‘Although Parker improved to 24-0 [with 18 knockouts] he did nothing to suggest that he poses a serious threat to the top dog in the division, Anthony Joshua,’’ a report on thesweetscience.com website said.
It described the bout as ‘‘a fight without an indelible moment [no surprise there].’’
The RingTV.com website was also unimpressed, saying Parker ‘‘looked ‘‘looked lacklustre for most of the 12 rounds’’, while ‘‘Fury was on his bike throughout’’.
‘‘As a result, the fight failed to deliver and the Manchester crowd had little reason to get excited.’’
The win was good news for Parker, RingTV.com claimed, but ‘‘the warning signs are out once again’’.
It said the Parker had plenty of physical tools, but he switches off in fights’’, citing his unconvincing title defence against Razvan Cojanu - who was a late replacement for an injured Fury - in Auck- land last May.
‘‘Unification showdowns with Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder, should thy win their upcoming fights, could be lucra- tive options going forward.
‘‘Parker, however, must refine his game if he is to be given a serious chance of defeating either man.’’
The Daily Mail’s Riath AlSanarrai said Parker was ‘‘far from impressive’’ in Manchester.
‘Quite simply, Fury did not do enough. He worked off his back foot and tried to jab his way sporadically to a title, but even in his home city it was ambitious to expect to favourable scoring.
‘‘That is not to say Parker was especially impressive ... far from it. He barrelled in and won this fight by virtue of his aggression rather than any discernible accuracy.‘‘
Kevin Mitchell, a seasoned boxing author, wrote in The Guardian that Parker’s victory ‘‘owed more to persistence than the dominance reflected in two of the scores’’.