By: Hans Themistode
Joseph Parker heard all the naysayers and doubters in the background.
Despite picking up the split decision victory over Dereck Chisora on May 1st, earlier this year, there were many, including Chisora, who believed he was given a raw deal. The long-time heavyweight contender pointed to his first-round knockdown and relentless pressure as the main reason why he should’ve been given the victory.
Still, while Parker could have accepted his somewhat controversial victory and went in a different direction, the former WBO heavyweight belt holder wanted to prove a point. In an effort to demonstrate his superiority to Chisora, Parker accepted a deal to run things back. But while Chisora was hoping for another outcome, Parker had a point to prove. The 29-year-old battered his man throughout the course of 12 rounds, resulting in three knockdowns and a unanimous decision victory.
Although Parker was pleased with his showing this time around, he tipped his cap to his long-time rival.
“I got the win and a more convincing performance,” said Parker during an interview with IFL TV. “He’s one tough guy. He just kept coming forward. Every time I hurt him, he knew how to recover and he kept coming back more and more. I got him hurt and he just kept coming back and kept coming back. What a warrior.”
With the win, Parker has successfully rebuilt his image following a disastrous 2018. During the year, Parker picked up the first defeat of his career at the hands of Anthony Joshua. In the process, he was also stripped of his WBO heavyweight title. Parker would then follow up that loss with another, this time at the hands of Dillian Whyte.
Despite those losses, Parker has reeled off six straight victories. In addition to that, he now finds himself ranked highly in three of the four sanctioning bodies, including number four in the WBC and IBF and number two in the WBO.
If, however, Parker is unable to fight for a world title in his next ring appearance, he has two names in mind that he would love to take on instead.
“It would be cool to fight Dillian again in a rematch. There’s Joe Joyce, I think his name was mentioned a few times. I don’t really care.”