For some reason, he degraded the last years, instead of improving himself, as he is still young. He gained weight, but didn't improve on punching power, however lost some speed and cardio as it wasn't a top one even before. He can still take hard beating though and that was the impressive when Joyce knocked him out, but no one takes into consideration that it took Joyce 11 rounds to knock out a faded Parker, yet he gets such a hype for. Few years back I was hoping to see Parker becoming a better fighter, as he has the potential and enough qualities to be a danger for everyone, but for whatever reason he got worse. I still hope he'll change something about his training, but at the same time I doubt it.
No, I think Parker would have just won on points against all of those opponents. Boxing isn't all about knockouts you know.
Couldn't agree more. We need to see him ship big punches from better boxers. Because he can't win at elite level without taking some to land more. One thing I'm sure of, should he lose to one of the top guys it will take an amazing, fan-friendly fight for that to happen...
Always time to make adjustments. I just don't think Kronk style works for him. Needs to go back to speed and lose that excess weight. I'll reserve my judgement on his next proper fight.
I don’t agree, I think Joyce took everything out of from Parker and it’s a long road back after a fight like that! Similar can be said of Dubois, he took an absolute pummelling from Joyce and it will change him forever
If he can't get a fringe cruiser out of there over 10 rounds then something is wrong. I get feeling him out for a few, but then you step on him no matter what negative tactics he's up to.
I just don't think he's been trained to deal with clinching as evident in the Fa fight and this one. It's a serious issue that needs fixing.
I never got the sense Parker wanted to really let them go and mix it up to apply the pressure needed on Massey. Maybe there is a cunning plan to get more GB fights from the likes of Wardley and Clarke, but who knows.
He's almost certainly done at the top level, but: - he would probably have still beaten Riaporkhe and Billam Smith, while looking disinterested and listless like @CST80 said earlier in this thread. They aren't much better than Massey. Having followed Parker for ages (well before most on this forum), this wasn't his worst performance for sure. - he can still have lucrative fights with British level heavyweights. Eventually there will be a Whyte rematch which he might win as Whyte is just as done.
I am not sure what some fans want sometimes. Parker has been very active and fought most of the top fighters. He has been in some good fights and has given fans their monies worth in general. He hasn’t lived up to the potential many said he had pre Joshua, but a decent career nevertheless. He could have kept his belt a lot longer but he decided to take big fights and go for glory. It didn’t quite pan out as he would have liked but I applaud him for giving it a crack. He is definitely declining but that is a reflection of actually fighting regularly and in tough fights. I am not a big Parker fan but the criticism he gets sometimes is not necessary imo. Celebrate a fighter that actually agrees to a fight-it’s becoming rarer and rarer.