Parker books fight after contract dramas
After months of negotiations, Joseph Parker and Joe Joyce have confirmed a fight date.
The highly-ranked heavyweight boxers will square off at Manchester Arena on September 25, with the winner earning a mandatory challenge for the WBO heavyweight title.
After Parker’s unanimous decision win over Derek Chisora in December, his camp had been looking at their options to see what the next step towards another shot at a world title might look like.
That came in the form of Olympic silver medallist Joyce, and reports surfaced early this year that a bout was in the works between the two.
Now the fight has been agreed and contracts were signed late on Thursday night in what manager David Higgins called “the longest contract negotiation of my life”.
Negotiations were drawn out as Parker (30-2) became a free agent following his last bout against Chisora. In trying to book the fight with Joyce (14-0), the 30-year-old Kiwi was also in discussion with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions — Joyce’s promoter — about a multi-fight promotional deal.
However, terms were not reached, and Parker eventually signed a multifight deal with British promoter Ben Shalom and Boxxer, who are aligned with Sky Sport UK. That deal was announced in June.
Despite not coming to terms with Warren’s promotional company, the Joyce bout remained on the table and will take place in just seven weeks.
“It came down to the wire. Everyone was still trying to get concessions and make changes at the last minute, so it was actually on a knife edge,” Higgins told the Weekend Herald.
“It could have easily fallen apart and not happened at all, so in a way, it’s a relief it’s on because Joseph has been patiently waiting since he beat Chisora the second time for his next outing. But it’s such a high-stakes game that the contracts have to be all in order and right, otherwise you can sell ourself down the river.”
Parker will remain in England for the rest of his camp, again training at Tyson Fury’s facilities in Morecambe with head coach Andy Lee, who has helped improve the former WBO champion since they started working together in early 2021.
A win over Joyce, and Parker will take over the 36-year-old Brit’s position as mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title. It would be against the winner of the rematch between reigning unified champion Oleksandr Usyk and former champion Anthony Joshua scheduled for Jeddah in two weeks.