New WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker seems to have plenty of options now that he has made his mark as the first New Zealander to have won heavyweight gold. Parker may have to face Hughie Fury in a mandatory first defence next spring, but the 24-year-old’s promotional outfit Duco Events are looking at all options – some of them massive.
David Higgins of Duco spoke with Sky Sports yesterday and he discussed everything from a Parker-Fury fight, to a Parker-Wilder unification fight, to a Joshua-Parker doubleheader on April 29, when AJ will fight former champ Wladimir Klitschko.
“If we are required to fight Hughie Fury, then that simplifies things a bit,” Higgins said. “We are clarifying that at the moment. If the opponent is required to be Hughie Fury then we’ll assess the pros and cons of holding it in England versus holding it in New Zealand, we won’t rule out either. We would consider all options. The other thing is to reach out to Al Haymon’s people about Deontay Wilder, potentially seeking to unify all the belts. We want to unify.”
Higgins added that if Parker gets a unification fight with Wilder, the bout would possibly be permitted above the mandatory defence Vs. Fury (as a mandatory defence can be superseded by a unification fight.) And Higgins’ big plan – perhaps, or almost certainly, too grand a plan to come off – is for Parker to fight Wilder on the April 29 card at Wembley that will see Joshua go up against Klitschko.
“Whether Eddie Hearn is willing to have two heavyweight title fights on the one card, we don’t know,” Higgins said. “We could have Parker-Wilder and Joshua-Klitschko on the same card and then the winner of each fight could fight off against each other.”
Wow! If this unlikely scenario actually unfolded, the fans would be the real winners, regardless of the outcome of the two super-fights. But is it at all feasible to have the Wembley card – one that is already guaranteed to sell out and make many millions – topped by two great match-ups? Which one would have top billing! And how much would it cost for the respective promoters to get all four big/huge names on the same bill?
If Parker and his people are serious about this, then more power to them, and what an incredible night of heavyweight action it really would be in April. But it’s tough to see it happening, don’t you think?
At least Parker, or his promotional team, is looking at facing the very best rival opposition and of taking the biggest fights out there. Things sure are getting very, very interesting again in the sport’s one-time glamour division.