I think Parker is secretly hoping Usyk vacates. Usyk is happy to take his time & wait for the purse bid to be called. I wouldn't be surprised to see an offer &/ or an extension requested on or near the last day of negotiations. Usyk is in the drivers seat & the longer the negotiations play out the better it is for his recovery & also keeps Parker inactive on the bench. There are reasons for Usyk not to take the fight, as a prize fighter he can potentially make more against other opponents, for example. For Parker if the belt becomes vacant, he'll be elevated & be on the receiving end of the higher splits as champion in his next bout.
I’m a perfect world… Parker, Agit then Moses, Moses, Agit and Parker are all in there primes and the wins will age greatly - Parker is owed this fight doe, leaving without JP would be a damn shame.
Basically yeah if Usyk retired now too Parker has a shot of trinket hunting and being the defacto “champ” and I think they’d be quick to try and anoint someone for a “super fight” if Usyk leaves it’s Agit and Parker left.
At this point I'm thinking Usyk will drop the belt and Moses - Parker gets made quickly with Usyk very likely taking on the winner. I reckon the plan is to have Moses step into the ring against Usyk with a belt. Hoping Parker upsets the applecart (again) and beats whoever he has to. Isn't fair. Not the way it should be. But it is what it is. For all the talk of Turki making the best fight the best people have forgotten that he means who he thinks is the best, not the fans, not the ABC orgs, just whatever is best for his goals. And right now that isn't Parker.
They say they aren't getting a response to try and get them to the negotiating table. It's all a mix if PR and getting the best deal possible. They dont lose anything, they can always go to purse bids after, but they can't go back to negotiate after, especially if they've annoyed Usyks team by forcing purse bids.
Yeah I think most would have no problem doing that. Us Kiwis are happy to tear down any countrymen who get too uppity. I think its part of the reason that Parker is excessively humble. I'm not joking when I say that if Parker was confident and saying he'd smash Usyk etc like a lot of other fighters do, he would lose fans in NZ. But I think its very unlikely that Parker doesn't face a mandatory, he has always fought who is in front of him without complaint.
The promoters have a pretty close idea to what the fight is worth purse bid wise, I doubt Parker gets offered any more than 20% of that number, so in my opinion, Parker gains nothing by trying to negotiate, a purse bid gets him roughly the same amount. An immediate purse bid probably would have benefitted Parker more than Usyk. Usyk would have had to of made a decision to defend or not very quickly. If he chose to defend & the fight was set for 3 months time, Usyk wouldn't have had this extra month to recover so far & would have to go back into camp much sooner. If he chose to vacate, then Parker would be elevated & possibly planning his first defense already.
If Parker were secretly hoping Usyk vacates, he wouldn't be calling Usyk out for months over and over again.
Parker has said he would prefer to fight Usyk for all the belts and lose rather than just get handed a belt. And based on his history, I don't see any reason not to take him at his word. I think a goal of his is to make the boxing hall of fame, as well as be a two time champ, so a fight against unified champ Usyk helps his case.
Other than Chisora and Usyk himself, its hard to think of a heavyweight who has consistently taken on top notch opposition like Parker, win or lose. AJ, Chisora x 2, Whyte, Ruiz, Joyce, Zhang, Wilder and Bakole. And while Wilder was past it and Bakole was last minute, both Zhang and Joyce were the most feared and in form contenders in the division when Parker fought them. Parker obviously wants it. And if he doesn't get it, i hope he gets the belt and beats Itauama. If Parker doesn't get the Usyk fight, he needs to be given the belt. And then he can defend vs Itauama, Wardley and a couple of others. If he can get the belt and successfully defend it 3-5 times, he is a hall of famer in my book.
Why would Parker hope he vacates? He went at AJ for the unified titles as soon as possible when he was considered the top dog of the division, undefeated with a huge KO ratio. You really think he doesn't want a crack at undisputed? If anyone is showing hesitation at the fight, it's Usyk.
Parkers history suggests otherwise. He has fought the most in form fighters in the division many times - Joshua, Zhang and Joyce. I think dude genuinely wants to be the best and hence, he does not avoid challenges.