Parker eyes potential title bout

Joseph Parker’s team is positioning the Kiwi heavyweight to fight for his old WBO crown should current champion Anthony Joshua vacate the title for a lucrative showdown against fellow Briton Tyson Fury.

While Parker, ranked third in the WBO, is preparing for his rescheduled bout against fellow Kiwi Junior Fa, his manager, David Higgins, has one eye on a future title clash with Oleksandr Usyk. Their hopes were given a boost last weekend when the No 2-ranked Daniel Dubois suffered a knockout loss to Joe Joyce.

Usyk, from Ukraine, is the WBO’s mandatory challenger and any potential bout against Parker would depend on Joshua defending his WBO, IBF and WBA titles against Kubrat Pulev on December 12, and then vacating the WBO strap.

Such a scenario is not out of the question, with speculation that Joshua and WBC king Fury could agree to meet next year. Higgins has been making moves to ensure Parker is in pole position should the opportunity arise.

‘‘If AJ vacates, we would love to fight Usyk for the vacant title and it’s a matter I’ve specifically discussed with [Usyk’s team] Egis Klimas and Alexander Krassyuk,’’ Higgins told the Sky Sports UK.

‘‘They are good people, the team around Usyk. I’ve done business with Krassyuk before and he was straightforward to deal with. They said that they would like to see that fight happen and so would we.

‘‘It’s a matter of seeing how the cards fall with Joshua and the WBO, but we’ve already written to the WBO, putting forward our lobbying case.

‘‘They have been wonderful to work with and they are one of the better sanctioning bodies. We hope that opportunity comes.’’