Some time has passed since Parker opted out of engaging vs Joshua. Will Parker continue to fight very safe vs punchers or can he revert back to form?
He was never on "Form", he sucked before and after, only the Brits build him up as some Giant Slayer........the "Silent Agreement" Samoan was and always will be a B level alphabet belt holder
What? He went 12 rounds with the top of the division. He was a huge underdog and did very well...he just didn't throw enough punches. How can you 'suck' if you lost the fight by arguably 10 punches a round? If Parker had thown 10 more punches in the close rounds, he would have been in the position to win the fight, or at least make it very controversial. Goes 12 rounds with the current champion (showed great stamina) Not once was he in danger of getting sparked out (his defensive game has improved tenfold) His movement and handspeed was some of the best in the division. Arguably the fastest puncher in the division. He made AJ look lacklustre. Because of his elusiveness, he made AJ shy to engage. AJ was stunned by a couple of punches, where as Parkers chin was solid throughout. The thing that Parker didn't do well was cruising for the last 3-4 rounds. He has the tank to perform in the later rounds, so he could have capitalised on that, but didn't... That is a maturity thing on the big stage. I believe he still has much to learn, as he has openly stated, but he is no bum. He has every chance to upset the top fighters in the division. AJ showed that he had trouble with Parker, so decided to box at range and fight like Klitschko (unlike ever before). Should they have a rematch in the years to come, it will be an interesting match up! Wilder will have a lot of trouble with Parker. Against the top 3 boxers on his resume, he has been losing on the cards leading to KO'ing his opponents. What does Wilder do if he can't knock Parker out? Ortiz gets beat by Parker. Too slow, too methodical and I think he will be a broken fighter after Wilder. Povetkin goes life and death with Parker. I think Parker has the boxing ability to outwork and beat Povetkin. I actually think Parker has a harder time with someone like Bellew and Haye. The smaller fighters with faster hand speed and better gas tanks. And that's all coming from someone who didn't think Parker would ever be world class... Just my 2c
One thing I would disagree with is stamina, he just doesn't have it or he'd have been able to bomb out lesser fighters like Takam and Ruiz. He has good power but not elite so that means he has to land a lot, and that means throwing a lot, and he's not capable of that over 12 rounds. Ortiz beats Parker as well and I don't think he'll be broken as he was right there after the fight was over. This would actually be a good crossroad fight by the end of this year, early next but I doubt anybody will want any smoke with Ortiz. I like Parker as a person but he really needed Holyfield like activity to beat AJ, ie needed lots of leather landed. He did however expose AJ as a basic boxer though I already knew that going in.
If Parker gets a new trainer, yes. Barry was begging him to play it safe throughout nearly the whole fight.
Parker's stamina is improving - he struggled far more vs Takam than against Joshua. Bear in mind that he was always on the move against Joshua too, so I don't think he used less energy in that fight. I fully expected him to gas and get stopped late. He didn't, but you are still right that in the last few rounds vs Joshua he just didn't have the energy to mount an all-out assault.
Seeing as you apparently didn't watch the fight, I'll help you out. Parker did much more engaging than Joshua did, who chose instead to largely hide behind his jab and have the ref broke it up whenever Parker got in close enough to "engage"... or pull call his own time outs when things get too exciting. Parker threw the most punches in that fight, by >100 and managed to have AJ a bit of a shake up a couple of times.
Exactly what I was going to respond with Kiwi I can see what you are saying @Blackclouds , in regards to his punch output. I don't put that down to Parkers stamina, I put that down to his trainer. Parker has done incredibly well with Kevin, but he is overdue. It's time to seek a world class trainer and see what he can get out of Parker. Parkers inactivity was also due to the fact that AJ didn't push the tempo either, which resulted in the lacklustre event as a whole. He has all of the tools to be world class, he just needs refining. His time in Vegas has helped significantly with his defensive game, his offensive game is already sound, he just needs to back himself and throw combinations like we all know he can. Some of the 6 punch combinations he can string together actually flow at the speed of a middleweight.
I saw him gas bad against Takam, then afterwards the more measured, too measured for my liking, and lol and behold, he couldn't really step it up in the championship rounds against AJ. Granted that corrupt ref took out a major part of Parker's gameplan. AJ said in a recent interview he stuck to the gameplan which wasn't to beast out and gas, which was probably smart but lackluster as he'd have likely have fallen short then Parker would have him. Back to the drawing board for Parker but he has a path back to another shot or 3.
Watching this one twice is not on my list of things to do. Parker knew he was well behind. He risked very little. At best he won four rounds. If you got short arms you have to press it. He didn’t. Some felt Parker has a good chin. He did not fight like he did and if he can’t go 12 without getting tried... After a performance like this I ponder if will engage enough to beat a puncher.
Trainers can help with technique but if there’s one who can add heart, I’m not familiar with his name In his prime, with a shot of a lifetime he was content with going the distance. You just can’t forgive that. It’s not like he was injured or taking a beating.
Parker has plenty of heart, if you have followed him all the way through you'll see it's not lacking. The plan was to take Joshua late and then attack - but by then he just had no energy at all for those last 3 - 4 rounds.