For a while now, boxing great Roy Jones has been saying, as have a few other experts, that if anyone out there in the current crop of heavyweight contenders can give Oleksandr Usyk a real run for his money, it’s Joseph Parker. Now, Jones is not saying Parker – a former WBO heavyweight champion who has been ever so patiently waiting for his shot, for his chance to become a two-time heavyweight champ – will beat Usyk if he fights him; he’s merely stating that Parker is “the most likely suspect” as far as being the man to take Usyk’s ‘O.’
Why Parker is a Tough Match
Speaking on the subject with The Ring, Jones (who, we must never forget, once razzled and dazzled his way to winning a version of the world heavyweight title, this when he outboxed John Ruiz in what was arguably Jones’s final peak performance) said that Parker and trainer Andy Lee make a formidable duo.
Usyk has yet to announce what he will do next or who he will fight next. But Jones, along with people like Lennox Lewis, feels Usyk should fight Parker before he calls it quits on a simply fabulous ring career.
“I don’t see anyone beating him at this point,” Jones said of current four-belt heavyweight ruler Usyk. “But the most likely suspect is Joseph Parker. It’s the only fight that is a little bit of a challenge because Parker has boxing skills, hand speed, he knows how to manoeuvre like a small man, and has trainer Andy Lee, who knows what he is doing as well.”
It’s quite amazing to think that when he was stopped, for the sole time in his career so far, by Joe Joyce in September of 2022, it was Joyce who was seen as the future heavyweight champ, while Parker was written off by some. Since then, things have changed a whole lot as far as Parker and Joyce are concerned; what with Joyce being beaten, badly, by Zhilei Zhang twice, and by Derek Chisora, and with Parker reeling off a six-fight winning streak, with Parker beating Zhang during this run.
The Rise of Joseph Parker
Has Parker, 36-3(24) reached his peak somewhat late in his career, and is he there now at age 33? Maybe. And maybe Jones is right when he says Parker has the tools and the know-how to be able to give Usyk a real fight, perhaps one of the toughest of his career.
Usyk, as his team recently pointed out, has earned the right to do what he wants to do next, but maybe Usyk likes the idea of matching his wits and his skills with those of Parker. Maybe Usyk, 24-0(15) has been listening to what Jones and others have had to say when it comes to who he should fight next.