Lennox Lewis Defends Anthony Joshua’s Style against Parker
Former undisputed world boxing heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis has praised Anthony Joshua for the manner he overcame Joseph Parker in their unification bout in Cardiff on Saturday night.
For the first time ever, Joshua failed to knock out an opponent, instead defeating Parker via aunanimous decision of 118-110, 118-110, 119-109.
The win means he has added Parker’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) title to his International Boxing Federation (IBF), International Boxing Organisation (IBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) titles.
British-Nigerian Joshua, 28, has now gone 21 fights without defeat while it was Parker’s first professional loss after 25 fights.
Reacting to the outcome of the fight, Briton Lewis who was the last heavyweight boxer to hold the undisputed title, hailed Joshua for keeping things simple.
“I thought AJ fought a great fight,” Lewis tweeted.
“I know fans want blood but sometimes it’s just not there. AJ kept proper distance to keep Parker at end of jab but out of range of Parker’s jab.
“Parker’s hands were faster than I thought but his game plan was too one dimensional.
“Good big one beats a good little one!”
And on the possibility of a Joshua, Deontay Wilder fight, Lewis added: “The dynamics of a Joshua, Wilder fight will be quite different for both fighters who are used to punching down on shorter fighters.
“It will be interesting to see how each adjusts.”
American Wilder holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) world title.