Records on the line

It is one of the most evocative titles in sport: The world heavyweight boxing champion.

Yet it is a title that has too often been fractured as a result of the rise of numerous different governing bodies in the years since the outstanding Muhammad Ali was stripped of the title in the late 1960s for refusing US military service in the Vietnam War.

But the current picture will become clearer when Britain’s Anthony Joshua, the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association champion, faces New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, the World Boxing Organisation title-holder, in a heavyweight unification bout on Saturday.

Some 78,000 spectators are expected at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, a testament to the enduring appeal of the heavyweight crown in general, and the pulling power of Joshua, in particular.

Joshua’s life story reads like the outline of a movie — a boy who fell in with the “wrong crowd,” but avoided prison because of his involvement in boxing, and went on to win an Olympic gold medal in front of his home London crowd in 2012. Then he turned pro and built up an unbeaten 20-fight record in the paid ranks.

But Parker, two years younger at 26, also has a perfect professional record, with 24 wins, 18 of them through knockouts.

Saturday’s fight will be the first time two undisputed heavyweight champions have met for the title in Britain, and should move the winner closer to a bout against Deontay Wilder, the American who holds the World Boxing Council’s version.