Parker set to name a rival
Romanian, American favoured as Wilder offers and Fury tale takes a comical turn
Kiwi boxing fans won’t have to wait much longer to know who local favourite Joseph Parker will get into the ring with on May 6. Team Parker, who were left in limbo after the withdrawal on Sunday of Hughie Fury from the WBO world heavyweight bout, will name Fury’s replacement at 2pm today at a press conference in Auckland.
This follows 48 hours of madness with a host of boxers calling out Parker to square up to them.
The WBO says Parker can make a voluntary defence of his title, but must choose a credible fighter from its top-15 who is not already engaged to fight.
American Dominic Breazeale, ranked sixth, had already put his hand up to replace Fury, while WBC champion Deontay Wilder yesterday announced on social media that he too wanted the fight.
While Breazeale would qualify — as well as his No 6 WBO ranking he stands at 2.01m tall — he was knocked out in June last year by IBF champion Anthony Joshua.
Another candidate would be Romanian Razvan Cojanu, ranked 14th.
In a comical twist to the saga, fallen British champ Tyson Fury — surprise conqueror of Wladimir Klitschko — yesterday also offered to step in for his cousin Hughie, who pulled out due to a supposed back injury. Tyson Fury even joked about his weight with a reference to 26 stone (165kg). His challenge is in jest because his mental health issues have led to his boxing licence being withdrawn. Many pundits doubt he will ever fight again.
Wilder, who has won 37 of his 38 fights by knockout and claimed bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games, does not figure in the WBO’s top-15.
But he insisted he wanted to fight Parker in an effort to unify the heavyweight division.
Wilder wants to fight Parker this year, although May is too soon for him to prepare.
He wants the winner to then fight the victor of this weekend’s Wembley clash between Joshua and Klitschko.
“Forget all them other scrubs ... Right now you’re talking about a champion versus another champion, let’s make a unification bout at the end of the year, we’ll get a mega fight against the winner of Klitschko and Joshua,” Wilder says in a social media post.
“Joseph Parker, if you’re really serious about fighting somebody, if you’re really serious about unifying the division, if you’re really serious about giving the fans what they want to see, then what other person is available, than me.”