What next for Joseph Parker?

I would be fine if he faces Lucas Browne in NZ or Australia. It will be an easy sold venue plus a good way for Browne to get retired.

 

Parker needs to just get back into the fight. Wilder will never fight him for sure, but you have to give Parker credit for having the never to fight Joshua, and the fight was very close, forget the criminal paid off judges, it was close..........

 

I want to see him come back to the UK. Fight Whyte if Wilder fights Breazeale or whoever. Maybe smash up Chisora. Stay relevant with the UK market and earn a bit of easy dosh, then negotiate a bigger fight down the line.

 

Needs a couple of fights to rebuild. Someone slow and hittable like Breazeale or Whyte would be ideal first up, then a step up. Maybe a Ruiz rematch, or Pulev. I'd love to see him fight Ortiz but it don't really make much sense for him if I'm being realistic. At 26 he has ample time to rebuild carefully, Ortiz on the other hand needs a top ten guy right now if he's to ever earn another title shot. No way does Haymon stump up the cash to make Joe take that risk.

Oh, and ditch Kevin Barry, FFS! That partnership ran its course like two years ago. Can you imagine Parker in the hands of a guy like Abel? Learning how to cut off the ring effectively would comfortably be the single biggest improvement he could make to his game.

 

Breazeale's another good name. Sort of the American Whyte and a decently ranked fighter in his own right.

Pulev would be a good rebuilding fight, as Pulev is still highly ranked yet very beatable. Only trouble is Pulev is a complete... well, let's say he's averse to taking on competition on the level of Joe. That fight might be difficult to make, to say the least.

The Ruiz fight would be a bit pointless IMO, as it's not a fight that draws crowds or does much for his career, and Ruiz has the potential to make Joe look bad again. I'd steer clear of that one if I was him.

He definitely needs to ditch Barry, but Barry seems to have his teeth well and truly sunk into Joe, and I don't know if Joe has the heart to cut ties. That'll likely be his big regret in his career when he looks back in years to come.

 

He's going to have to take short money vs guys who are willing to gamble. He doesnt generate the money in NZ to get top guys down there, they had to borrow money from the samoan government to fund the ruiz fight.

 

He could easily base in the U.K. and sell out places like the copperbox.

Maybe even the o2.

The likes of Belles/Haye would love a piece of the action, Whyte would, Chisora, Joyce. All would be relatively big fights. Fury but would he entertain him?

Then he’s got the likes Allen as a steady comeback fight.

He could do well basing out of the U.K. Hearn would probably get him big foreign fighters over to fight there too.

 

Maybe take out Miller in America? Joe could head stateside with a new trainer and do a couple of demolition jobs on American contenders to build up a bit of momentum.

 

Absolutely no chance Joyce takes a Parker fight at this point. He's looking to pick at the bones of Chisora's corpse.

 

Miller is a good shout to be fair, and all things considered is possibly Parker's best option at propelling himself right back into the title mix. Wilder won't risk his belt, Sasha won't risk his mandatory status and Pulev won't risk ... well anything going by the last two years, and Ortiz/Ruiz are potential banana skins. The thing is I don't really consider Miller much of a step up over Whyte or Breazeale, if at all. They all have different things going for them really; Breazeale hits the hardest, Whyte is the most skillful and Miller is the toughest to put down. The only thing remotely separating them is the fact that Miller still has a 0 but they're all quite limited and easy to hit, especially for a guy as quick as Parker. Perhaps I should scale my hopes down a little; the corpse of Browne for a decent trans-Tasman payday, then step up against one of Breazeale/Whyte/Miller. In this pitiful HW landscape that would probably be enough to make him mandatory for one of the organisations.

Loyal to a fault, and too much of a nice guy for his own good. Shame, really. When I first saw him and Joshua 4-5 years ago I thought Parker had the greater potential, you can't coach handspeed and you can't put muscles on your chin.

 

Locally Browne would be a good one but Browne would really need to totally re asses his training and diet to make it slightly competitive..

I think going to the UK is the right thing as he get the exposure and the pay cheques...

Agree with ditching Barry he has given him all he can and I think it is time for a refresher..

 

Likewise. It's very rare to see a natural athlete and a natural fighter in one, but Parker had it. Unfortunately you also need the type of seasoning that only the best trainers can provide if you want to make it at the very top. Parker stalled around the time of the Takam fight. That should have been the time to cut ties with Barry and take it to the next level. By sticking with Barry so long he's in danger of stagnating, and I see signs of that already with some of the laziness that's been creeping into his work. It's frustrating as I know Parker has more to give, but he seems content in his little groove, so I'm not sure what more can be hoped for anymore.

 

He needs to stop stinking out the joing and fighting like a pansy. That is his problem--he doesn't fight like he has any balls.

 

This.

I was a big believer in him, but he let himself down big time in the AJ fight. Waited for AJ to gas but did nothing to make that happen, except eat a million jabs. It's like he thought he'd win the fight purely by being in shape and not taking a big right hand. He's clearly from the David Haye school of HW boxing.