Promoter Eddie Hearn is looking 3 possible dates for the heavyweight unification fight between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker. The dates are March 24, March 31 and April 7. London and Wales are potential areas where the fight could take place.
Hearn says he’s close to getting the Joshua-Parker fight done. He still has some things he needs to work out before he can get the match finalized, however.
Joshua will have his IBF/WBA heavyweight titles on the line, and Parker will be putting up his WBO strap. The winner will hold 3 of the 4 heavyweight titles. The next target for the winner will be WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
“We’re looking at March 24, March 31 and April 7 as potential dates for his next fight, with various different venues in London and Wales, even other venues and cities around Europe as well,” said Hearn to skysports.com. “We want that unification fight, we’re close to a deal with Parker – it’s not done yet but we hope over the Christmas period, the turkey will get put to one side and we’ll work to get that done.”
Hearn wants Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) and Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) to be “realistic” in what they’re asking for in terms of the purse split for the Joshua fight. They’re not going to get a 50-50 deal or even close to that. Joshua will get the lion’s share of the money in both fights. If Parker and Wilder don’t want to agree to that, then they won’t get the fight against AJ. It’s as simple as that.
Just when it seems that Hearn is making progress in negotiations for the fight, Parker will post a Tweet that suggests that things are going well in putting the fight together. Hearn wants to get the Joshua-Parker fight done by Christmas, but it’ll require cooperation. There’s got to be some give and take on both sides.
It may not seem like a good idea for Team Parker to accept less than what they originally wanted for the Joshua fight, but they stand to make a monstrous amount of money in the rematch if they win. Joshua isn’t unbeatable. His last 2 fights against Carlos Takam and Wladimir Klitschko have revealed that there’s an inherent weakness there that can be exploited by his opponents if they have good enough boxing skills, power, chin and the engine to take advantage of his flaws.
It wouldn’t be wise for Parker to go after Joshua straightaway in the first 2 rounds to try and get him out of there. That’s when Joshua is at full strength. I don’t think there’s anyone in the heavyweight division that can overpower AJ in the first 2 rounds. The best way to attempt to beat Joshua is the method Wladimir used in waiting until the halfway point in the fight before attacking him hard with power shots. If Parker has the courage to try that method, he might have luck in beating him. Failing that, it’s going to be very difficult to beat him for anyone in the heavyweight division and that includes Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.