Fury v Wlad -Boxes on the back and front foot -Outclinches Klitschko -Outlands Klitschko over 12 rounds Spoiler and a joke of a fighter. Parker v Joshua -Back foot for 12 rounds -Allowing Joshua to hold the middle of the ring -Ducking under Joshua's arm everytime he's in close -Outlands Joshua in 1 of 12 rounds 'Nice guy' and a very good effort. Parker's performance was embarassing. Joshua didn't have to change his jab and move gameplan all night. Just proves that people are jealous of successful boxers.
Difference is parker was up against it with the 7 inch reach advantage. Joshua was the one doing the spoiling more for me if anything....edging up using the reach advantage to get a jab off ready to run away if or when parker came forward. Its effective tactics and really difficult to counteract as the smaller man with the much smaller reach...for me joshua deserves to take more of the criticsm the same klitchko used to get when he used slightly similar tactics. Its dull too watch. People paid for the fight thinking Joshua was gonna come out and fight. Hes meant to be the big all action superstar. Instead he hardly used the right hand all night. Mostly jabbed his way to victory relying on the big reach advantage in a similar performance than we,be came to see from klitchko. Its good boxing...but it does deserve critism if your selling it as entertainment. Parker was up against it giving away too many advantages. Fury had a bit more advantages than parker had...reach/height. Fury's was a very good performance anyway. He had a bit more about him than just the same old edging up with the jab ready to run away when the smaller reached fighter tried to comes forward.
Parker, like Fury, was the challenger. It is the challengers job to beat the champion. Parker's performance was just embarassing. Fury won, Parker didn't win a round.
Fury could potshot from the outside. Parker can't do that. He should have attecked in close quarters. He would need to crack AJ chin to win but Parker didn't want to take that risk. Fury didn't need to take risks thanks to his reach.
But Parker isn't getting criticized for losing....which is bizarre. Fury won the fight. You can't criticize a man for winning fairly, not matter how 'boring' it is'. Fury fought boring at won. Parker fought boring and lost.
Parker didn't better than I thought he would, but yes he didn't come to win. He was unwilling to step in there and slug it out with AJ. And if he did many times the referee spoiled it, too. There was a moment in the 2nd round if I recall correctly, where AJ was willing to set up for a toe-to-toe brawl and Parker stormed at him but the ref broke it up.
Think the problem with the post is....not many had a problem with furys performance. It was the fight itself that got the critiscm. Klitchko more than anyone. Think most people now understand the smaller guys with the much smaller reach are up against it...against the tactics the big guys are using nowadays. The smaller guys need to exert too much energy trying to get inside to keep going for twelve rounds. Their stuck between a rock and a hard place. Its either fight on the backfoot and try to get a small opertunity/mistake from the bigger man...whilst getting outboxed. Or come out and try to force the fight on the frontfoot...putting themselves in harms way of the bigger man and more likely gassing early by working hard to force the fight on the frontfoot with the bigger guy. Which isn't the easiest thing to do anyway. The saying still pretty much rings true...a good big man beats a good little man.
Joshua is getting slaughtered for the lack of inside fighting too..... Joshua was as willing to fight inside as Parker, hence he was instigating it as early as round 2. Like you say, the referee wasn't allowing it too.
