Fury’s ring magic
Joseph Parker has gained extra motivation for his comeback after watching first-hand the extraordinary world title fight between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.
Parker was ringside at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles and said he was on the edge of his seat shadow boxing as Fury got off the canvas twice to earn a draw with WBC champion Wilder.
The division has heated up with the successful return of the charismatic Fury and Parker, who fights Mexican-American Alexander Flores in Christchurch on December 15, is all for it.
‘‘It was really motivating watching that fight. I wanted to be in there,’’ Parker told Stuff.
‘‘Fury put in a great performance coming off the two years he had of not training. It was incredible.’’
Parker said he felt justified in not predicting a winner between two fighters who have become his friends.
‘‘Kev [trainer Kevin Barry] mocked me for sitting on the fence but I stayed true to my thoughts and my prediction . . . 50-50.’’
Barry refused to be drawn into crystal-ball gazing, saying their position on the back of two losses meant only a convincing win against Flores would allow them to ‘‘talk about getting in the mix next year’’.
But Barry was hugely impressed with Fury and felt the division now faced an interesting juncture with talk of a rematch and Anthony Joshua, the IBF, WBA and WBA champion, left waiting for a shot at total unification.
‘‘There are a couple of ways of looking at this,’’ Barry said.
‘‘Does Wilder want to fight Fury again because it’s his choice. Was Dillian Whyte the biggest winner last night? Does this mean he will now fight Joshua? I would say there is a pretty good chance that these guys will fight again in April or May next year.’’
In terms of where that would happen, Barry said Wilder continued to struggle to win over his home fans. The 21,000 seater LA arena was well short of being sold out with heavily discounted tickets available and others being given away.
‘‘Deontay Wilder has now defended his title eight times, he was fighting in the US and he was the underdog, the crowd was a British crowd,’’ Barry noted.
Would Wilder fight a rematch in the UK and could it justify the suggested stadium crowd, were questions Barry felt needed answering.
‘‘But Tyson Fury would have won a lot more fans last night, that’s for sure,’’ Barry said.
‘‘It was a masterful display by Fury. He defeated huge odds, and he showed a 6’9’’ man with tremendous boxing skills, light feet and fast hands is very, very hard to beat.
‘‘Fury’s jerky style . . . everyone knows it’s coming but they just don’t know how to deal with it. It makes him the most awkward man in the heavyweight division.
‘‘Fury’s movement with upper body and lower body was tremendous. The way he was able to slip the right hand [of Wilder], it was beautiful boxing, no doubt about it.’’