No doubt Parker is the best fighter from Oceania(Australia/New Zealand) in decades unless your a real Tua fan. But how does Parker compare to the fighters from the golden age of Australian boxing in the early 20th century? H2H and "legacy". Heres IMO the 12 best from that time. Peter Jackson Goddard Slavin Dooley Felix Creedon Lang Squires Dave Smith Arthur Cripps Colin Bell Tom Heeney Another 10 include Jim Hall, O Donnell, Doherty, Jim Ryan, Bill McCall, Tut Ryan, Jim Griffin, Lester, Joe Costa and Sid Russell.
I, I don’t know… but he’s basically a big modern Jimmy Young, bit cagey, can pull off the odd stinker of a bout Joe should impose himself more but doesn’t... also similar to Young he’s faced a lot of iron and is a credible contender that may pull off the upset against an aging guy being heralded as one of the greats. I’d like to see Tai come up and fight him in his debut at HW if Usyk deals with him for a HW NZ vs AUS bout.
Impossible to compare him to Jackson due to no footage. My guess is Jackson was more naturally gifted while Parker is more of a product of hard work and consistency
Premature to rate him whilst he is still active. You confined this to heavyweights? Otherwise possibilities would include; Darcy,Griffo,Tszyu,Fenech,Rose,Famechon,Sands.
What about aussie joe Bugner? He was on a good run when he beat Tillis, Bey an page before losing to bruno.
I would clssify Bugner as British. He was ethnically Hungrian but born and bred in England. He was a product of the English/British system. Any success he has as Aussie Joe, to me, is due to his British system.
I was trying to confine it to Australian golden age fighters. I added Heeney cause he was the last HW from the region to break through at the world level for decades hes sort of the book mark. I agree with dmt. Bugner advanced through the UK system and was an Commonwealth/EBU double winner. Bugner started fighting at the regional level in Oceania at 45 and had 5 fights. Those three and Smith all went to Australia to fight Bugner as one offs.
I think Parker has finally proven once and for all that he is superior to James Thunder. But, I still have him behind Tua.
I like Joe but think beating Big Bang and Wilder do not make him a great fighter ... he's big, tough, durable and cute with decent power and a good chin .. I'd really like to see him agains Moses .. I know Moses is very young but he's fast as hell and can hit and that wouodnbe a terrific fight as I view Joe as more of a high end gate keeper than a great champ ...