Is Parker Too Nice?

Parker has made multi millions in prize money as a fighter, he was never going to be top of the pile, so being Mr Nice guy with none of the trash talking hasn't served him too badly.

Would he be a better fighter if he was more raging bull, who knows.

Would he earn good purses here in UK for future fights, yes he would, and let us be honest so much of this trash talking is like immature teenagers.

I think Parker would be a handful for any of the top 10 heavyweights, ok he lost against Whyte, but in a rematch i feel he would have the beating of Whyte.

 

That's what I saw, he wanted to box from and the other guy turned it into a fight. He wilted,

 

Parker has skills and natural ability for days.

He lacks ring IQ, the dog inside and a world class trainer.

A shame really...

 

I blame the trainer tbh. Kevin Barry's a fantastic man and must be a good trainer to get him this far. But not sure he's good enough to take him any further alone.

Became apparent quite quickly that parker wasn't gonna be able to outbox whyte on the back foot without taking damage from a bigger/heavier guy. They should have knew that coming in because of whytes long reach in comparison. He was always gonna counter regardless of parker being a pretty decent boxer on the backfoot. Big mistake for me. Parker could have won that fight with heavy hard single shots namely the straight right. Feignting etc. Left jab set up followed by the hard right hand. Due to how basic whyte is...who tbf is good at what he does. When he did exchange he had to get that right hand off hard...to stop whyte in his tracts. Which he was doing okay at times but was then waisting shots before/after it. They have to bulk parker up now...with muscle and forget about the outboxing guys on the backfoot with parkers reach. He's got to change the approach. He has natural fast hands...I m not sure he's naturally big enough tho...which isn't quite Barry's fault.

Whyte didn't like that straight right. But parkers big problem was he was thinking of using it in combinations trying to put power in all the shots instead of concentrating all his power into that shot alone. He,d have got white out of there.

Barry also likes parker too much. Their too friendly. Parker badly needs a bollocking at times. Although he clearly respects Barry...Barry shows parker a little bit too much respect as a cornerman imo. Its not getting the best out of him. Also timing of the fight a huge mistake...parker badly needed comeback fights we knew whyte was a handful.

I say he should probably stay with Barry. But Barry needs to get someone else in. He's a great man to have in a brutal sport but needs a bit help due to the level their at now. They must have done something right to get this far.

I think they learned a good bit in the Joshua fight they just didn't have enough time to do anything with it. They maybe even needed that whyte fight. But its what they do now. You cant stay at the learning stage. He can definetely come again...needs some big changes tho.

 

I don't think "niceness" had much to do with the outcome.

It's not easy to win big fights in the other guy's backyard coming in off a loss but Parker very nearly did.

Go away, get him a few wins & bring him back with some momentum behind him & he wins a fight like that.

They tried to jump the queue by taking this fight coming in off the back of the Joshua loss & it didn't quite work out.

It would have been a genius move had Parker won but he didn't & it wasn't.

 

Parkers in a tight spot in his life. He has a wife and 2 young kids at home in NZ, he lives and trains in Las Vegas, and he fights out of the UK. Hes a deeply religious family man mormon who hasnt done his missionary and not the smartest cookie in the shed. The last 2 years have probably been extremely taxing on Parker, and for some reason, i dont why (injuries?) hes gone from being a come forward puncher to a backfoot boxer. Personally I think needs a bit of a break, move back to NZ, get a new trainer, recharge the batteries and see if the desire is still there. Parker shouldnt have lost that fight.

 

I do think there’s a genuine lack of spite with Parker. Whyte made up for his crude technique by being a spiteful sob and even then Parker was still looking to touch gloves and be mates after each round. I don’t think Parker will do too much now, great chin though. The left hook that dropped him would of ended the majority of heavyweights

 

I don't really think it's "niceness" in the sense of being polite, not fouling etc that's the problem. Whyte didn't win that fight because of fouling, he won because he punched Joe more than Joe punched him.

I get the sense it's more that Joe naturally goes into survival mode a bit when the heat comes on. It seems like he is "tough" in the sense that he has a good chin and will hang in there, but maybe not so "tough" in terms of pure will to win. Maybe this sounds silly but in the Takam/Ruiz/Joshua/Whyte fights (i.e. the fights where he had an opponent pressuring him) there have been points where it almost felt like he forgot that he was supposed to try to win. I'm not sure that he really understands whether he is winning or losing at any point in a fight.

For all the criticism of his small-town, small-time team, they have somehow taken Parker to a decent level of fame, fortune and a world title. It turns out that his level is probably about Whyte/Chisora level, yet somehow coming from the other side of the world he managed to build a reputation and then cash out before he got found out. His team have managed to position themselves perfectly to take advantage of the thriving UK boxing scene. You have to say it's a pretty good marketing job.

As fans we glorify titles and achievements in the ring- but for all we know, maybe what Parker really wants is to make his fortune and get out with his health?

 

Also, his relationship with Barry and Higgins is a blessing and a curse. There was this documentary they showed in NZ after the AJ-JP fight which was very revealing in terms of how close they all are.

It seems like on one hand, Kevin Barry is extremely grateful as a "mediocre" trainer to have a fighter like JP keeping him relevant. David Higgins is making a living off JP so he's happy too.

On the other hand, Parker is extremely grateful to have a tight knit team around him who have, somehow, taken him to relative fame and fortune by age 26, despite him never really performing at an elite level.

It's so mutually beneficial that it's hard to see the team breaking up.

 

Great points, Manu

 

"The Team" needs to make sure they are acting in Parker's best interests.

They rolled the dice putting him straight back in with a live opponent coming off a loss & ended up with another loss.

They need to go away and get him some low risk wins before stepping up again.

It's all very well sitting ringside with Fast Eddie & getting your head on tv but they need to make astute career choice decisions for Parker from here on in.

That will involve going backwards before they attempt to go forwards again.

Are they willing to spend some money to do that for him? I hope so.

 

I agree. His team definitely did a good marketing/hype job with him. Whyte & Chisora both are probably both better fighters than him yet he has made more than either of them.

 

I think whytes weight won him the fight. People criticize heavyweights when they appear to come in overweight. But the way their fighting nowadays the weights helping them. Nothing wrong with parkers heart...or being too nice. Was more about whyte tyring him with the extra weight...more the extra weight behind the punches. Also helping them to absorb more punishment in these dog fights as well. Chisora/takam was similar in that chisora was able to take a bit of a beating and still have enough left in the tank.

Parker looked spent at times. Think that extra stone makes all the difference in a fight like that a lot of the time. Too many heavyweights coming in heavy for it not to be a calculated risk. Parker needs to try bulking up. And learn to fight as a bigger man. The boxing on the backfoots not really worked for him...due to his short reach. Needs to learn from whyte. Get inside...push the other guy back. Use the extra weight to his advantage.

 

He doesn't have top tier power or defence. He's got a very good chin and recuperative abilites (fitness), that's it.

DW's jab was landing with ease all night, he wasn't even trying to evade it from about the 4th round on. He can't pressure very well either, he doesn't have the power firstly and secondly can't seem to throw quality, accurate combos in close.

 

Yes, Parker needs to torture a kitten or cut off someone's head to develop the necessary mental approach needed to win boxing fights.