WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker really does seem to be doing all he can do to make the unification showdown with WBA and IBF ruler Anthony Joshua. The unbeaten New Zealand warrior has offered to take a 35-percent split of the fight purse, to Joshua’s 65-percent, and now Parker has proposed the placing of a rematch clause in the contract.
“@AnthonyJoshua, doesn’t a 65-35% between two unbeaten champions sound fair? Nearly double our share. Don’t worry a rematch clause is there in case you’re worries about your chin. #NoExcusesNow #NeverBeenDropped,” Parker wrote on twitter a while ago.
Parker and his team are convinced Joshua has a suspect chin and that he is reluctant to agree to face Parker. It’s true Joshua has been dropped by Wladimir Klitschko and wobbled by Dillian Whyte, while Parker’s people say Joshua was “gassed” in his most recent fight, the tougher than expected stoppage win over late sub Carlos Takam. Joshua, though, has come through to win on each and every occasion and he is 20-0(20) as a result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASJk5UqtqV8
Can Parker, who has not knocked out a single elite-level opponent (his biggest and best wins coming against Andy Ruiz, Takam and Hughie Fury; all of which were decision wins) really go in there and flatten AJ? This is a question more and more fight fans are asking themselves, and will continue to ask for as long as Joshua “ducks” Parker, 24-0(18).
It seems an easy fight, and a natural fight to make – and next. Parker is agreeable to less money, he is agreeable to coming over to the UK for the fight (it’s a no-brainer that the fight takes place in the UK, where AJ can pack in close to 100,000 fans inside stadiums) and now Parker is willing to have that rematch clause placed in the contract.
What are Joshua and Eddie Hearn waiting for? Hopefully this fight, a three-belt unification clash, will indeed happen in March or April of next year. Parker clearly seems to want it – but does Joshua?