I know, right? I have no idea what Parker has done to get some much hate here, presumably just that tall poppy syndrome is as healthy as ever here - it's clearly not everyone but a LOT of people in local news commentary talk about Parker being hyped and exposed and Fa is being slept on and would deal to Parker. Really I am happy to see anyone locally doing well (being a top 100 hw boxer is no small achievement!!) but it's all relative, Parker is among the best and should be recognized for it.
Is Pulev lined up to get into title contention if he wins? I faintly recall he was IBF mandatory but called of a fight vs. AJ after he was injured and he sort of lost his mandatory status?
Doesn't matter, Fa is rubbish. I've watched every pro fight of his and he's struggled against a lot of low level local journeymen. He has 0% chance against anyone remotely good.
No it's not. Fa sucks dude. He's gone life and death with domestic level opposition and a shot to pieces Guinn. Pulev is going to treat this is oaf like a heavy bag. Wallin/Fury may not be a great fight but Wallin would definitely beat Fa.
There's a worryingly long list of names who beat Fa, in which the tail end would be Arreola, Stiverne, Dimitrenko et al. Hell I'm not even sure he'd pass the Kamil Sokolovski exam. I went off him when he lumbered to a MD over Daniel Tai then got lucky vs Hunter Sam, both domestic journeyman, one of whom is about 5''9.
Yup he was shocking against Hunter Sam who is a career loser (not saying that in a nasty way). If it wasn't in Auckland, Sam could easily have gotten a draw out of it.
Yep. His career is all about ebbs and flows. But that last performance was one ebb to many for me. I actually think it's a good move to throw him to the wolves and see what comes from it. It was only a matter of time before a journeyman was going to embarrassingly take his 0 from him.
That's because our media/casual fans know nothing about the sport and still go off what happened when Fa beat Parker when Parker was still at school. The only boxers they could name off the top of their heads are David Tua, Sonny Bill Williams, Shane Cameron, Fa and Parker along with AJ, Fury, Wilder, Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Yep well i can see the team's rationality. Better to lose to Pulev than a Sokolowski type. After Pulev, he'll become a perrenial gatekeeper, only fighting the best, losing to them all, and probably making good coin out of it. He'll end up Dimitrenko level, or there abouts.
NZ public, and therefore the media, only care about heavyweights and big David Tua-esque ko's. There's no interest in the sweet science at all. So when a big guy scores a KO vs a no name, he's suddenly in the papers. David Light who has racked up good wins via decision, showing good skills in the process, and became CW WBO 14 never gets a mention. That's the problem with the grass roots boxing in NZ; they all want to be the next Tua cause that's what the NZ public demand. If you're all about the sweet science then you're a 'sad guy' and not giving the public what they want.
Exactly right, hence the unnecessary hype for Fa. As you said, Light beats a former World Title contender with ease but no one would know about it. Maselino Masoe won a World title but if you mentioned him to most in public, they'd probably ask if he was a relative of Chris Masoe (his brother of course). Fa, however, scored a 1st round KO over an overweight journeyman Fred Latham and all of a sudden he's being hyped as the next big thing.
