Joseph Parker vs. Sonny Bill Williams??

Joseph Parker was losing to nobodies in the World Series of Boxing in 2012.

He's way way way overrated at this point.

He's probably improved since then, but who would know? Beating Kali Meehan didn't prove anything. People were knocking Meehan out in a round or so 10 to 15 years ago. Now Meehan is almost 50.

 

Yet Klitschko was impressed with him, Tyson Fury wants to spar with him, Evander Holyfield calls him the new deal, no one has hurt him, Anthony Joshua even has complimented him. What would those guys know, right?

You know how Parker got ranked higher than AJ in independent rankings? By fighting more higher ranked guys, and beating them.

He is not overrated, he beat people legit enough to earn himself those ratings. If he is overrated, so is AJ. You don't know what it takes to beat him or how he will go when he steps up until he does, and pretty much everyone loses sooner or later.

He definitely has holes in his game, so does Anthony Joshua and so does really ALL of the boxers - what matters is who exposes the weaknesses in their opponent the better on the day. If you're hating on someone who hasn't had them exposed enough to lose anything in pro then the issue is not with the developing fighter. AJ has been the first to step up and looked at risk of losing to someone outside top 40 by the second round - imagine how that'd have looked on Whyte's record? What would people be saying about AJ now?

They're all a work in progress, but Parker is 18:0 and has done enough to earn more respect than he is getting from people here. He doesn't have to be the best thing since sliced bread (I'm certainly not saying he is) but he IS one of the top contenders based off the opinion of a lot of people way more credible than people in here.

I really have all fingers and toes crossed he gets a good opponent for his next fight because regardless of his potential I'm likely to start losing hope in his career a bit, at least so long as he stays with his current handlers.

 

I also hope Parker can secure a decent opponent for his next fight, it would be a real shame to see him frozen out just because he lacks promotional and financial clout.

He of course will eventually secure a mandatory shot being the WBO's number 1 but it wouldn't be the best prep for Parker to face Fury or whoever is the WBO champion is, having never faced a decent opponent and we don't know how long it would be until he can get a mandatory shot, the WBO don't have a great record in enforcing mandatories.

 

Yeah that's my thoughts too. I really can't see Parker doing very well against Fury, the dynamics of that fight seem like they'd be all against Parker.