Parker has tools to be champion of the world
When Joseph Parker arrives in Auckland for his WBO world heavyweight title fight against Andy Ruiz Jr, he will almost definitely be in the physical shape of his life.
Under the tutelage of trainer Kevin Barry at their Las Vegas base, his mental condition is likely to be excellent, too.
The same can’t necessarily be said of Ruiz Jr, a Mexican based in California who has had his share of ups and downs. That’s a major factor, along with home advantage, as to why Parker will be favoured to be the first New Zealand- born most exciting contenders in the division; a success here — and Eden Park is now firming as the likely venue — will earn him a big payday, with bigger ones to come.
News out of the WBO convention suggests the organisation, in sanctioning the Parker v Ruiz Jr fight for the title, have also ordered that Englishman David Haye will fight the winner, and potentially in April next boxer in more than 120 years to win a significant heavyweight world title
Parker, who has a 21- 0 record, has fought a better class of opponent than the 29- 0 Ruiz Jr. That’s a point noted by respected boxing writer Dan Rafael, who wrote: “Parker has beaten two fringe contenders in his last three fights, a unanimous decision against Carlos Takam in May and a stunningly one- sided third- round destruction of Alexander Dimitrenko on October 1. Ruiz, 27, a Mexico native fighting out of Imperial, California, has a far less impressive resume than Parker. year in England, not New Zealand.
If Parker can travel there as the WBO champion and defeat Haye, his profile will soar and Duco will be in an enviable negotiation position for the next fight.
Haye, a former world title holder at both cruiserweight and heavyweight level, is a popular and charismatic figure and a fight in London would guarantee a huge crowd and
“He is coming off a lopsided 10- round decision win against journeyman Franklin Lawrence on September 10. Ruiz’s most notable victories are a fourth- round knockout of former world title challenger Ray Austin in May and a 10- round decision win against former world titleholder Sergey Liakhovich, but they were both way past their best days.”
Ruiz Jr recently pulled out of a fight with Hughie Fury, the cousin of Tyson, due to issues related to his management.
His partnership with trainer Abel Sanchez, who works with champion middleweight Gennady Golovkin, television audience.
That in turn would promote Parker to the English sporting public, and a victory would set up a megafight, a potential unification bout, with Englishman Anthony Joshua.
Parker is already mandatory challenger to Joshua’s IBF title; if he holds the WBO belt he will be guaranteed a much bigger share of the purse, and it’s likely to be in the region of eight will help. But Parker was primed so well for his knockout of Dimitrenko in Manukau in his last fight, the training camp template has surely be set.
Interestingly, Bob Arum, Ruiz Jr’s promoter, is under the impression that his man has far faster hand speed than Parker.
Arum told Rafael: “My [ matchmakers] think Andy has a hell of a shot. The kid is pumped because apparently he’s sparred with Parker and more than held his own. I’ve seen some of Parker’s fights on YouTube clips. He’s a tremendous puncher but he doesn’t look to me to be particularly fast.” figures. Duco will undoubtedly argue a 50- 50 split of the purse for the Joshua fight and his promoter Eddie Hearn will find that difficult to argue against. He is likely to have been previously been pushing for a split of 75- 25.
While Parker i s poised for big things, the quick thinking of Lonergan and his business partner David Higgins at Duco Events has got him there. Hearn had lined up Parker for Joshua’s next fight, only to change his mind once Wladimir Klitschko became available because that fight was more lucrative.
Now Klitschko is about to pull out of the contest — which was also to be on December 10 — leaving Hearn to quickly find an alternative.
Rather than wait to see how the Joshua v Klitschko negotiations went, Duco stole a march on Hearn by aligning with Ruiz Jr’s promoter Bob Arum, an extremely experienced and influential boxing figure, and it has quickly paid dividends.
There is also a wildcard factor at play.
Controversial Englishman Tyson Fury had to vacate the WBO belt for the Parker- Ruiz fight to happen. In turn, the WBO has promised him a mandatory challenge against the titleholder.
If Fury returns swiftly from his sabbatical to cope with his well publicised mental health and cocaine abuse issues, could he leap- frog Haye in the queue to fight Parker? Potentially, but Duco will be unconcerned. Frank Warren manages Haye and Fury, and Duco won’t mind which boxer they face first.
The world is potentially Parker’s oyster. Only 24, and with some bigmoney fights in front of him, the New Zealander is set to cash in. North Harbour have opted for an unchanged starting XV, while Wellington have reintroduced Jason Woodward and Matt Proctor, for this afternoon’s Mitre 10 Cup Championship rugby semifinal in the capital. There are plenty of brackets in the Counties Manukau side looking to tip over Canterbury in tomorrow’s Premiership semifinal in Christchurch. Augustine Pulu will be involved at halfback for the Steelers, though he was with the All Blacks camp during the week, but No 10 Piers Francis is out with a broken hand. Kiwi Volvo driver Scott McLaughlin isn’t wasting time trying to overcome his Bathurst 1000 heartache, posting the fastest time at Gold Coast 600 opening practice. McLaughlin clocked one minute, 11: 32 seconds to top the practice timesheets on the concrete wall- lined street circuit yesterday. Supercars series leader, fellow Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen, was second fastest ahead of fellow Holden driver David Reynolds. New women’s world surfing champion Tyler Wright believes the world title will remain her sport’s biggest prize and the Olympics is more of a novelty event, but one she really wants to contest. Wright, who a week ago in France clinched her first world title with one event to go, said yesterday winning another and getting to the 2020 Olympics were on her bucket list. Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi has welcomed talk of a bid for another A- League football team in the city, saying a cross- town rivalry would push both teams to be better. Former Roar and Gold Coast United mentor Miron Bleiberg has revealed he is part of a consortium that is interested in bankrolling a second Brisbane A- League team and he has the money to make it happen. British rider Cal Crutchlow has topped the standings after the first free practice session of the Australian MotoGP at a wet Phillip Island circuit. Yesterdays’s first session got under way in rain and conditions worsened throughout the 45- minute free practice, with Crutchlow setting the quickest time on his LCR Honda. Lance Armstrong has pulled out of a much- hyped interview before an audience in Ireland, citing legal reasons, organisers have said. The American athlete, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France cycling titles over doping, was due to appear at a sports and technology conference in Dublin today. Former world men’s tennis No 1 Rafael Nadal has ended his season in a bid to fully recover from the left wrist injury that has plagued him this year. In a statement, the Spanish 14- times gram slam champion said he would play no more tournaments and would instead begin “preparing intensively” for the 2017 season. Tiger Woods says he still believes he will surpass the record 18 major golf titles won by Jack Nicklaus, even though the former world men’s No 1 has been sidelined from competition for more than a year due to a chronic back injury. Now aged 40, Woods is in the twilight of his golfing career and has been stalled on 14 major victories since his remarkable triumph at the 2008 US Open but he expressed confidence about his playing future in a Public Broadcasting Service interview. .