Joseph Parker Brutally Sledgehammers Anthony Joshua Into A Heap Of Samoan Chop Suey... on 3/31!

Good thoughts, Chezzie

You actually may be right.

I'll tell you something funny I'm thinking. You know those fights where Parker lost his "discipline" and just started brawling? I actually think if this happens in close with Joshua it may be the best tactic of all. Just let rip.

And for that reason I believe Parker may just have a better inside game than we think.

-Kiwi

 

I agree being conventional most likely won't work. I want the fight to brew a little more to give Parker a bit more learning time. He is a baby in terms of prime heavyweight age.

 

Ditto. I enjoy a good debate and the reality is we don't have crystal *****, so it's all speculating and discussion - so it's not just a debate, it's sharing ideas. I'm interested in both fighters and really its a win win situation with both of them developing if you aren't a small minded hater one way or another.

More than he struggles when someone is on the inside and doesn't necessarily deal well with fighting off the backfoot or if someone can fight off the backfoot, basically he likes going forward and hitting someone who gives into it. He got frustrated with Breazeale not just lying down and Breazeale returned fire but not with the speed, accuracy or power that would come back which will be more exhausting against someone like Parker.

I think you underestimate Parker's headwork and movement, he's not showy about it but it's certainly there. A lot of the exchanges which IMHO helped him win most of his recent fights are a result of clean use of those factors - Bowie Tupou win was slipping and countering, MANY of the openings against Takam were countering punches and winning tight exchanges (Takam is much better at this than Joshua IMHO). I'm not saying Parker is going to (necessarily) control the distance by stalking or launching in on Joshua, I'm saying that its more likely he'd use the exact movement you believe he doesn't have in combination with the things that we know he does have. Parker and Joshua are both fast (I never called Joshua slow, and don't disagree with his strengths you mentioned)... BUT Parker has been proven against a fast effective mover, Joshua hasn't had to deal with it.

Just being fast yourself doesn't mean everything - how you cope with dealing with someone else fast with power can change how you appear in a match. A bad fighter can make a good fighter look great, a great fighter can make a very good fighter look average. I'm not saying either or are great or otherwise, but while Joshua hasn't been on a level which may lower the look of his game which in all honestly is very likely to happen to a degree - the question is how much... there are things we can only speculate on.

If nothing else, a puncher's chance is a chance - and the longer the fight lasts the more chance there is of that happening. Do you honestly think Parker wouldn't last as long as Breazeale or Whyte?

I make no attempt to hide the fact that I think Parker is fighting an uphill battle against Joshua, literally.

Yeah I understand where you are coming from, and similar to me. Watch Breazeale versus Joshua, look for Joshua's moving forward versus moving backward game with exhanges, look for how he works in the corner.

Now do the same for Parker versus Takam, don't just count punches avoided/countered - pay attention to the accuracy and speed of the punches thrown and avoided on both sides. ie, the speed accuracy and punch selection Joshua is having to deal and how he deals with them and vice versa for Parker versus Takam. Consider how much work each are having to do to keep things under control, etc - if you haven't already. Maybe you have, but if you haven't maybe its worth a look... I'm not saying Parker is levels above or otherwise, but he does a lot of stuff competently I think people are missing and they end up just assuming that the opponent has not "shown up" on the day, I predicted it before the Takam fight on here and its exactly what happened.

The "gassing" *both* people did is partly from the sheer amount of "details" imho, lots of movement, feints, half exchanges etc which weren't Joshua-esque bomb throwing but instead managing the exchanges and making sure things are hard to read and managing each others openings etc. In the same way but to a much lesser degree where Fury vs Klitschko seemed like neither guy did SFA, which is half true... part of it was that Klitschko wasn't wanting to take risks because Fury was frankly managing all those subtleties much better and Klitschko knew he wasn't totally safe to let his hands go, which he can usually guarantee - but realistically you have to hit someone sooner or later if you want to win.

I think when Parker and Joshua face fans *MAY* find that Joshua doesn't dominate in quite the same way they expect, and if that happens and because of the love / possibly not actually seeing it- if that happens they may decide that he was having an off night (he may still win btw... again, I see him as most likely winner) and there may be talk of injuries or "head not being in it" as even people have AFTER they've fought Parker felt that they could have won, just something went wrong on the night.

A lot of that is speculative, but a guaranteed thing.... when faced with a much better combination of speed, ability to move, counter punching, combinations, accuracy and KO power than what Joshua has faced before he is going to HAVE to be more careful than what he has before. Parker can and will fire back at speed and in bunches at some point and Joshua can't ignore it and keep punching. This is very likely to be a fight.

 

Good stuff, Lith

Insightful

 

I am impressed with your response Lith, refreshing to see someone actually listen to both sides.

I need to have a look at both fighters again when I have a bit of time and look at the looks you are talking about. Which Parker fights do you recommend? Of course Takam.

 

I think AJ is a step above Parker and would love to see the fight! I think AJ takes this in 8-9 rounds by stoppage as Parker gasses out.

 

Interesting considering AJ has not been past 7 rounds, but Parker who has a number of times will be the one gassed?

 

Figures that most of the people backing Parker are from NZ. A smaller, come forward boxer with zero defence at world level like Parker gets banged out inside 6 rounds.

 

AJ didn't look tired at all going 7 rounds against Breazeale while Parker looked gassed from the 6th round against Takam. This is why some people may think Parker is the one that might gas.

But I think that's over simplifying the matter. AJ wasn't pushed at all by Breazeale he fought as he pleased at his own pace while Parker was under pressure throughout and taking shots.

All we can say is that currently if under pressure Parker is likely to gas in the middle rounds, the same maybe true for Joshua though, we won't know until someone really tests him.

 

This prediction actually has a chance of happening. The St. Louis spare ribs thread should go against the OP though. He clearly despises AJ. I mean for you to pick Charles ****ing Martin over him - arguably the heavyweight titlist WOAT - then you know you've got a serious problem with a guy.

Still Parker beating Takam trumps anything AJ has done as a pro and by some margin.

 

CST80 does seem to have a blind spot when it comes to Joshua, doesn't matter who he's fighting he'll root for that opponent and will say he'll knock Joshua out. Reminiscent of how Dino despises Wlad.

But I guess most have a fighter they like too much or dislike way too much and find it hard to be rational about.

 

I can't really think of a fighter I feel that way about. Storm aggravated the life out of me so I'm glad to see that cowardly drug induced thief leave the sport but I can't think of anyone I have an overly irrational dislike of.

I guess Garcia continuing to pick up wins despite me thinking he's useless and fortuitous is prob as near as I come although I can pick him and don't care if he keeps winning. Someone needs to smack his dad in the mouth though. I'd happily contribute to his assailants legal team.

 

Cheers, mate. Sorry quite busy today - so will be brief, just watch Joshua vs Breazeale (not even necessarily the whole fight), Joshua really does look great but seems to avoid interchanges and there are times - instead of using movement to get advantage of the wee bursts he just GTFO. I guess if he can keep scoring from range that is a valid method of dealing with things, in which case it's a moot point but he hasn't ended up with someone who can make that kind of thing more difficult for him.

AFTER you've watched that, watch Parker versus Takam - you have to watch them back to back to see what I am getting at.

Yes, Parker still showed some rough around the edges but you'll see what I was talking about in terms of how much movement and how much time there is for counters, dodges etc. People go on about Parker gassing in that fight, but comparing the speed, accuracy and technical skills of Takam and Breazeale is completely different leagues and Parker was still using movement and headwork effectively in that fight, and against MUCH harder to avoid stuff than anything Joshua has faced.

Let me know if you do check it out and if you do agree, or any other feedback on it. I'm interested in balanced thoughts.

 

Glad you made that point, as per the post I just made above this - I think Parker would have gone 12 rounds comfortably against Breazeale if Breazeale survived that long. The intensity of the fight versus Takam is on a different league, and it's MUCH more to do with Takam's level versus Breazeale's than Parker's versus Joshua... knowing someone somewhere is going to make out its just because Parker is struggling against "any" opposition.

Parker has already gone to late rounds in other fights looking no way near as gassed, if at all. He actually still fired a bigger combo in the 8th round versus Takam than anything I've seen from AJ in any round and still managed to have big rounds later in that fight again, against a very intense opponent - so gassed is relative.

 

Bold prediction. I think AJ is the real deal though, and that he will fight like a tall guy and wear Parker out.

My prediction is late round Tko by AJ