AT A GLANCE

What: WBO world heavyweight title fight

Joseph Parker v Hughie New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker will be kept busy, hoping to squeeze another fight in this year although getting the appropriate opponent to achieve that could be complicated.

Parker is defending his WBO world heavyweight title against Britain’s Hughie Fury in Manchester this morning (NZT).

Win or lose, Parker is adamant the show must go on.

A victory sets up a massive pay day in Britain. A loss means a potentially lengthy and costly rebuild to get him back into the top frame.

The busy British scene hasn’t stood still and two potential opponents for Parker if his arm is raised in victory, Tony Bellew and David Haye, are set for a heated rematch in London on December 17, taking them out of the equation.

That fight would be seen as an eliminator with the winner to challenge Parker for his title with the fight after that being a unification bout with WBA and IBF champion Anthony Joshua, providing he beats Kubrat Pulev in his mandatory defence next month.

There are a lot of ifs and buts around the fluid heavyweight division right now.

Big talking and bruising Brit Dillian Whyte is another lucrative option though he may not be ready until January.

With the Fury fight being a mandatory, there is no rematch clause and that seems unlikely.

If the UK market has no vacancies, then Parker could easily look to the United States where Duco’s co-promoter, Top Rank legend Bob Arum, is eager to see the Kiwi enhance his profile in that important market.

Resurgent American heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings is now on Arum’s books and would be a fight Parker certainly wouldn’t ignore under the right circumstances. Fury