How did Parker lose to Joyce ?

Nothin'. That was peak Joyce on his best night, that's all.

 

Back then Joyce was an indestructible force. I doubt anybody would have had a chance.

But having said that, probably running around boxing him would have led to a comfortable win because Joyce is terrible and just lost to a very old journeyman who has lost to basically everybody.

 

Parker need to stick and move

That is the exact thing he failed to do

A BIG lesson that caused a total revamp of everything

Ended up making lemonade out of lemons

 

Reminds me of Max Schmeling coming in and deciding the best way to fight Baer was nose to nose in a phone booth. No, dude.

 

Yep. It was bad alright

 

Yeah, this is the most accurate take.

Back to back brutal losses can ruin a fighter physically and mentally, especially if they are getting up in age anyway. Joyce must have taken incredible punishment in sparring. And the first loss to Zhang guaranteed a rematch loss if the clause was activated; it was a horrific matchup for Joyce, plus Joyce underestimated him first time.

Joyce had good wins over Dubois (NOMAS10) and Jennings (albeit a close/controversial decision) before he bulldozed Parker, he was high level.

Stylistically Joyce was a nightmare for a heavyweight with an overweight 255 lbs Parker's collection of attributes (much smaller, not fleet of foot, not great stamina, a light puncher after a few rounds). Dubois did better due to having more size and power, Jennings did better due to more reach, footspeed and stamina.

 

Parker simply came in too heavy which affected his stamina. His footwork/speed is fine, not a huge puncher but doesn't need to be. Coming in heavy against Joyce will never work unless you have huge power to back it up.

 

To be fair Parker probably lost the first fight to Chisora. Let's not get carried away on how great Parker is and crap Joyce is just because Joyce lost a very close fight to Chisora.

Also Zhang took something out of Joyce along with age.

 

Peak Joyce was always a terrible matchup for Parker

Literally his worst type of opponent

 

Recency bias.
Parker gets overrated after his success against Wilder and Zhang. Joyce gets underrated after losing to Zhang and Chisora.

 

But what if Parker keeps winning?

 

Mainly a styles thing. I think Parker probably would have lost to the Joyce who lost to Chisora.

Chisora is strong and has a really heavy punch, so a guy that comes to him and has no defence is a very good fit. Add to that Joyce's very slow, only straight punching against Chisora's bob and weave style.

Sure, age and wear and tear will likely have degraded Joyce somewhat since Parker, but it's not like Parker didn't find him with his punches, Joyce just wasn't bothered by them. And he could bully Parker physically in a way that he can't with the likes of Zhang and Chisora.

 

Parker wins the rematch.

 

Speaking right before Joyce vs Chisora, Dave Allen has Chisora as the hardest puncher he's faced and worries a bit for Joyce:

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Incidentally, he has Fury as nr 2 and Joshua as nr 4.

 

Chisora beat Joyce

Parker beat Chisora

Joyce beat Parker

Hmmmmm....