The moment of truth
Amidst all the hyperbole spoken about the world heavyweight unification title fight between Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua over the past couple of weeks, one sentence of reason stood out.
We’ve had pages and pages of claims and predictions from both camps that stretch all the way back to late last year.
Confirming the fight for Cardiff’s Principality Stadium tomorrow only sent that into overdrive as WBO champion Parker and IBF and WBA champion Anthony Joshua set about their preparations amidst a war of words.
But as a strange calmness fell upon the event over the last couple of days, it was Joshua’s experienced trainer Rob McCracken who uttered a short but sensible summation.
‘‘The beautiful thing about boxing matches is that until the bell goes, nobody knows how it will unfold or what will happen,’’ McCracken said.
Call it sitting on the fence, but that is the reality of this almost unique situation.
It is only the fourth time in the long and storied history of this rugged sport that two unbeaten heavyweights have come together.
The results of the three other occasions back up the diversity of what might, or might not, unfold in front of around 80,000 attending fans and a global television audience of millions.
In 1971 Joe Frazier, the WBA and WBC champion with a 26-0 record (23 KOs) took on the returning Muhammad Ali who was the lineal champ boasting a 31-0 record (25 KOs). It took 15 long rounds to settle with Frazier scoring a unanimous points decision, helped by a last-round knockdown of a battered Ali.
In 1987 Mike Tyson, the IBF, WBA and WBC champion (30-0 with 327 KOs) was also forced to go the distance over 12 rounds to earn a unanimous points decision from IBF champion Tony Tucker (34-0 with 29 KOs).
A year later and with a further three wins under his belts, Tyson was at his brutal best to demolish Michael Spinks, the lineal champion (31-0 with 21 KOs), in the opening round at Atlantic City.
It has taken 30 years for this situation to unfold again. To have a Kiwi-Samoan in the mix speaks volumes for the rapid development of Parker (24-0 with 18 KOs) and Joshua who has the perfect record of 20 knockouts in as many fights.
Size, power and home advantage point to Joshua continuing that remarkable stretch.
But Parker’s speed and durability bring doubt into the equation.
The bookmakers, expert analysts and even Joshua himself,
appear to be having second thoughts about Parker, enough to suggest this could be a contest worthy of these rare circumstances.
The pair have prepared with diligence befitting the occasion. Parker appears to be in his best nick for a couple of years and Joshua is his usual imposing self, even looking a little leaner which is a mark of respect to Parker’s speed of hand and foot.
And deep down, below the bellowing of knockout predictions and glass chins, there lies a massive undercurrent of respect between these two boxers and their camps. Their records alone, along with their championship belts, deserve nothing less.
Both fighters are oozing confidence. That comes with the territory, neither know how to lose.
The mind games have been immense, another part of the phony war before the real war and Parker’s persistent questioning of Joshua certainly seems to have hit a nerve, producing uncommon anger in the big Brit.
That could go two ways. Have Parker and his team stirred the beast in Joshua to the extent he will be angered into demolishing Parker, or have they triggered doubts in what has seemed an impregnable fortress of faith?
Parker appears cool and calculating, coming off what has certainly been the best camp of his career, one that backed on to double elbow surgery he insists has him punching harder than ever.
He will need every inch of that grunt to topple the huge Joshua.
Right from the moment these two exciting talents stepped into the professional ranks within nine months of each other a collision course was set. This fight always looked inevitable.
That moment has arrived. It is a moment that Parker and his trainer Kevin Barry have maintained comfort in, believing Joshua’s aggressive style perfectly suits the Kiwi’s attributes. This then, is a moment of truth. To be in the company of names like Ali, Frazier and Tyson is heady stuff.
None of them stayed unbeaten forever. But they produced performances that produced rivalries and that is what the glamour division of boxing is crying out for among what is being heralded as a new generation of exciting talent.
For Parker and Joshua, something has to give. One punch or one mistake? Will it be the first round or go to the last round?
As McCracken so wisely said, no one really knows until the bell goes.