Joseph Parker has a “classic” contenders resume? ATG chin?

I was hard on Parker for having a dull personality and not really going for the wins against Joshua and Whyte (although the ref also ruined that fight). He deserves everyone’s respect at this point though and has shown that less than elite talent coupled with elite dedication can lead to a very good career.

 

If can still achieve a lot more. But then again he can also take some brutal losses.

Time will tell.

 

He got a whiff of AJ's power and shrunk like my ballsack after a night with Tyson fury.

Needed to take the bit between his teeth and lay into AJ early and rely on that chin which im sure he'd do with a rematch today.

 

He wasn't the world heavyweight champion, he was the WBO title holder.

 

The Joyce KO probably takes him out of the 'ATG Chin' category, but he'd only be demoted to the next level down. Deserves his current popularity though, think at this point everyone is rooting for Joe

 

Parker is in the position where he could feasibly rule the division for a couple years with the old guard retiring and the new generation still coming up. He can definitely beat any other top 10 fighter and would be the favourite against all of them bar Dubois and Usyk and probably 50/50 with Kabayel.

Based on his current standing though, he slots nicely into that role of competitive and top level fighter who is a threat in the division for a long time but never breaks into that upper tier against the elites, who can grab a title with a bit of luck but is never 'the' champ.

His chin is great, we still haven't seen him truly hurt from a punch, he had the Joyce KO which was a mix of punch accumulation and exhaustion. The closest would be that Whyte left hook, which would have put most heavyweights down for the count, but Parker easily beat it and look relatively steady after.

 

I've always liked Parker but it's been frustrating to watch him at times. He plateaued early on due to being with Kevin Barry for too long. The change to Andy Lee in his corner has seen him evolve into a smarter fighter. He still has the same tools as before, but now he knows what to do with them now and fights more intelligently because of it.

I'm glad he's finally getting some respect, he's had a good career overall but I would like to see him get another shot at a title before he retires.

 

Not at all. I had Parker clearly winning that fight, 116-112 or 116-113. Ruiz fight was close, yes, a draw would probably be the most fair outcome.

But overall Parker has had excellent career and very deep resume. And he is still far from done.

 

Certainly higher than the guys like Maskaev, Liakhovich, Briggs. He has much deeper resume then them, wasn't knocked out cold by everybody and their moms like Maskaev was and wasn't beaten by guys like Sedrek Fields or Darrol Wilson like Briggs was in his prime.

 

I think you might be thinking of the wrong fight re Takam - by almost all accounts Parker won that one close. I agree with the very close fight vs Ruiz, like @Unique Way mentioned a draw would have been fair.

 

Which is "a" world heavyweight champion.

 

Yeah he had a mid-career stage where he simply didn't seem to give everything for the win and lost many fans for this. The Whyte fight, arguably he should have had a draw, but it was hard to be upset at what transpired after seeing Parker disinterested for about half the fight.

I think the key was linking up with Andy Lee - he was a passionate fighter who always gave everything and maximized his gifts.

 

Parker is a very good fighter and has a good resume. I really like the dude and hope he can be number 1. It's a huge ask, but not impossible

 

Parker is a class act and a real fighter. He's game to step in with anyone and test them and himself out.

I’m a big admirer of his along with Usyk. Guys like these are why I still follow boxing.