We all want to see an undisputed heavyweight champion, and we fans are not alone in this desire. Deontay Wilder, the WBC king, has stated how, for him, “2017 is all about unifications,” and New Zealand’s reigning WBO heavyweight boss Joseph Parker and his team feel the big unification bouts will come soon enough.
Wilder, who returns to action following injury and subsequent surgery, against unbeaten underdog Gerald Washington this month, has said he is targeting Parker for his next fight. However, in speaking with Sky Sports, Parker’s co-promoter at Duco Events, David Higgins, says that a Parker-Anthony Joshua unification fight is likely to come before a Wilder fight (assuming of course, AJ comes through his toughest pro test against former king Wladimir Klitschko in April).
Higgins says Parker taking big fights against the big British names of the division “makes sense.”
“Joe’s stock – assuming he wins [his April defence against Hughie Fury] – will go through the roof in England, therefore it would make sense for Joe to target English opportunities next after Fury,” Higgins said. “For example, if Joshua won [against Klitschko], that would be a better unification. It looks like we are heading down the UK route at the moment. I think Wilder will happen, but my gut feeling is it’s probably a bit further down the track. I think the belts will unify. I wouldn’t be surprised if within two years’ time there is an undisputed heavyweight champion.”
As long as the big unification fights come, fans will not overly care about which order they come in. Whether it’s the Parker-Fury winner against the Joshua-Klitschko winner, or whether it’s Wilder against Parker, or Fury, or Joshua, or Klitschko – the fan interest is assured. Right now, the division is, as they say, wide open.
If Higgins is correct and we do see a unified heavyweight king sitting atop the world in a couple of years; just who will it be? Wilder is arguably the single most dangerous puncher amongst the current belt-holders, Klitschko is the most experienced, Joshua is the fighter the money men are backing to become the superstar of the division, while Parker is the titlist who has shown the most improvement.
But can former unbeaten king Tyson Fury return to the ring and reclaim all the belts he never lost in the ring? It’s taken a while, but the heavyweight division is exciting and ultra-competitive once again.