Parker is better than Whyte in every department. Just can't see how Whyte can win & I'm a fan of tbs. Parker 8-4 9-3 type fight imo
Whyte should outbox Parker for 12 rounds and hurt him late going for a finish. I think it's a competitive fight but the clear cut rounds will belong to Whyte landing power shots and will be better setting up shots with the better jab. Whyte is underated while Parker is some what overated . I think Whyte is a top level guy slowly crawling to become a legit threat for the top guys because he has unpredictably and a great work rate. I believe Whyte puts it all together and hands Parker his second loss in a row!
Whyte will finally be stepping up for his toughest fight since Chisora. Whyte made a big error calling Parker a coward. I just hope there will be honest scoring if it goes to points. I am going to pick Parker. He's young, fast, skillful and he will be giving everything to bounce back from his defeat.
Parker by late TKO. Competitive first few rounds before Whyte loses his cool as Parker starts to get on top and pick him to pieces using superior boxing skills as the fight progresses before putting him to the sword in the 9th/10th round.
If you had asked me 3 fights ago who I would back in this one it would have been Parker and by a wide margin. However given Parker’s elbow injury and bad hands, his appallingly flaccid performances. He looks every bit a fighter on the way down to gatekeeper status. Meanwhile Whyte looks in the best shape he has ever been, full of confidence and on the way up. Momentum is very important as are serious injuries. Therefore I am siding with a Whyte UD or late KO victory in this one. It sets up a rematch with AJ in April of next year.
Elbow injury which is not an issue now, even though it was pretty close to after surgery Parker said they were fine during the fight - he said he had a gentle first half of camp which makes complete sense, but no issue. I've never heard of hand issues. Not convinced, he has been actually systematically working through his weaknesses and some of that has involved over compensating - but then after some introspection, learning and working on those further. 3 fights ago most people said he had no defense, now he is very effective defensively and is being accused of not being offensive. The elbows were an issue and he dealt with those, so now those are no more. On the complete opposite from someone on their way down, what I see is someone with the drive and humility to tear things down and build up again - sometimes it takes two steps back to take a step forward... but if you build the base for a higher limit in those steps forward then you are playing the long game, and are less likely to plateau. I think there is a real chance here he has had enough experience with fights as the outright aggressor, as well as fighting off the back foot, having effective defense, dealing with pacing himself under duress without gassing but also going for the kill when the time is right. Whyte could be facing by far the most dangerous Parker so far, he DEFINITELY doesn't come across like a man who thinks he's planning to be a gate keeper - and his approach is definitely not a gate keepers one. They both do, aside from the blip in momentum from the loss against AJ - but for some fighters a loss like that is a bad thing, others are driven by it. It's not like Joe lost in an upset which would crush his confidence, he was the first person to fight 12 rounds against AJ without looking close to being hurt - did have Joshua on the defensive at times and has learnt things from the occasion. I think both guys are in a very similar place, to be honest. Both have been knocked back and are working their way back up - the biggest difference I see is this is a step up fight for Whyte, and a step down fight for Parker.
It’s a close fight! I like how it’s got quite a few of us split picking a winner. Parker really has a point to prove now in a similar way H Fury did against sexton, he needs to let his hands go and I think he will, his handspeed is better than whyte’s and he can bang not forgetting whyte is very very hitable. Whyte on the other hand has good momentum although against over the hill helenius and browne, he’s in his prime and his work rate is good. I like both fighters but I’m edging towards Parker to stop whyte late, his handspeed is key and whyte will get desperate and careless once he realises Parker is nipping the rounds and that’s when Parker will pounce Parker via ko 9th rd
Both C level fighters but Parker is better and should get a dominating UD or late rounds stoppage. Both of these guys wouldn't cut it as Usyk's sparring partner.
I expect very boring fight between two tough guys but not very skilled-Parker is solid B rate fighter and Whyte is C rated for me.There will be no knockdowns and no knockout so expect a controversial decision.Both got chins and will. Parker got controversial decision against Ruiz JR in NZ and against H.Fury in UK so he might get robbed this time for a change.And no AJ fight wasnt a robbery...please. Two warriors but not the fastest or most skilled nor tallest,rangiest or very big hitters sadly.The lack of long amateur background is very obvious here. Both also have stamina issues and will fade badly after 7-8 rounds or less actually.I wish they could drop down to 220-230 lbs to gain some more speed and stamina but they just dont care it seems.Parker still can improve quite a bit with a better trainer too,its not too late for that.
