Parker can do what Jerry Forrest did

How has he failed? He won a belt, and dominated one of the "big three" in Wilder. Who else can say that?

 

Currently Zhang is ranked 3rd by the Ring Magazine and 7th by boxrec, 2nd by WBO. I suppose that's something.

 

He lost his title to Joshua and got dismantled by Joyce. He couldn't win a belt in 6 years again.

He's just waiting to be destroyed by Zhang.

 

I like zhang but I’m not fully sold yet. A big hard hitting tall fast handed southpaw who takes a good punch will always be a threat though

I don’t rate Joyce that highly and Hrgovic is still untested (not really his fault guys don’t seem interested in facing him). But his only high quality fight is zhang

 

I lean zhang but think Parker, who I’ve written off in the past, has a good shot

 

It is, but how many times are absolute bullcrap rankings given out?

I prefer to look at resume and make my own judgements... Which on Zhang is that he's good, I'm just not sure how confident I can be about exactly where he stands when he's done relatively little as a pro.

 

@BubblesUK you only say that, because you didn't watch his fights. He is absolutely top skilled. Fast, accurate and powerful.

 

This is an example of styles make fights. I reckon Parker's in with a really good chance if he doesn't get blown away early.

 

Yeah, Zhang hasn’t done much, all he has done is completely brutalise the man who brutalised Parker (twice)…

lol

 

And AJ got TKOd by Ruiz in 7 and schooled by Usyk twice. He also doesn't currently hold a belt. What's your point?

 

Yes, AJ and Parker are both terrible.

 

Well that's a straight up lie if ever I saw one

I've watched enough to say he's good, but not enough to be fully convinced... Because there's not enough to watch for that.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (again):
Looking skilled, passing the eye test, whatever you prefer to call it - that's great, but it doesn't guarantee that a fighter is capable of stepping up and still looking like that... It's much easier to look skilled against lower level fighters, or against fighters with more basic styles - step up, and everything can change, fast.

Powerful - yes, undeniably... Joyce's chin was up there with the best in the division (and it needed to be, because his defence was/is next to nonexistent).

Fast? On what basis? The only serious fighters he's fought are Hrgovic and Joyce - Hrgovic isn't particularly quick and Joyce is absolutely ****ing glacial... And even then, Zhang's concrete footed in such company - fast hands, slow feet.

Accurate? Relatively, but again, look at the serious fights he's been in - Joyce is incredibly easy to hit, it doesn't say much about your accuracy to be able to hit that target... Hrgovic likewise doesn't appear to be too difficult to hit, despite not having been in with anyone else particularly great.


Its all a question of context.

Yes, Zhang is a good fighter.

But.

His best wins are against a much less proven and far less defensively capable fighter than Parker.
Parkers been knocked out by one concrete footed plodder with heavy hands, so it's entirely possible for Zhang to win - but because his resume is thin, it's unwise to go in confident that that's going to happen.

Of the two, Parker is far, far, far more proven.
That guarantees nothing, but it's nonetheless an absolutely undeniable fact.

 

Win or lose, Parker has shown to be a true fighter in the past 10 years. Since picking up a 'loose title', and then promptly losing it to AJ, he has shown he will fight anyone. I hope he can pick up another title, when the belts fragment.

 

I would pick Zhang over the Dillan Whyte Parker lost to.

Pick em fight for me.

 

So who's good to you then?