By: Hans Themistode
Joseph Parker heard all the protesters and doubts in the background.
Despite claiming a decisive win over Dereck Chisora on May 1, earlier this year there were plenty of people, including Chisora, who believed he had been handed a rough contract. The longtime heavyweight has pointed to his knockdown in the first round and relentless pressure as the main reason why he should have been awarded the win.
However, while Parker could accept his somewhat controversial victory and go in a different direction, the former WBO heavyweight champion wants to prove a point. In an attempt to prove his superiority over Chisora, Parker accepted a deal to run things back. But while Chisora hoped for a different outcome, Parker had reason to prove it. The 29-year-old battered his man for 12 rounds, resulting in three knockdowns and a decisive win.
Although Parker was pleased with the performance this time around, he took his hat off to his longtime rival.
Parker said in an interview with IFL TV: “I got the win and a more convincing performance. “He is a tough guy. He just kept moving forward. Every time I hurt him, he knows how to recover and he just keeps coming back more and more. I injured him and he kept coming back and back again. What a warrior.”
With the victory, Parker has successfully rebuilt his image after a 2018. In, Parker received the first defeat in his career at the hands of Anthony Joshua. In the process, he was also stripped of his WBO heavyweight belt. Parker would then follow up that loss with another loss, this time at the hands of Dillian Whyte.
Despite those losses, Parker had six straight wins. Plus, he is now ranked highly in three of the four arbitration bodies, including number four in the WBC and IBF and number two in the WBO.
However, if Parker can’t fight for a world title in his next ring appearance, he has two names he’d like to take on instead.
“It would be great to rematch Dillian in the rematch. There’s Joe Joyce, I think his name has been mentioned a few times. I don’t really care.”
