David Higgins, promoter for former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, believes his fighter has done what is necessary to earn a rematch with British superstar Anthony Joshua.
Back in 2018, Joshua won a twelve round unanimous decision over Parker to unify the WBA, WBO, IBF titles.
Last month in Saudi Arabia, Parker shocked the division when he outboxed heavily favored Deontay Wilder over twelve rounds to derail a planned March mega-bout with Joshua. Parker was the more active boxer and was able to avoid Wilder’s dangerous right hand for the entire fight.
The victory marks Parker’s fourth win in a row since suffering a stoppage loss at the hands of Joe Joyce in 2022.
“Joseph has earned that fight [with Joshua] in my opinion and the Saudis would see merit in Parker against Anthony Joshua,” Parker’s promoter David Higgins told Sky Sports. “It might not be next, there might be a bit more work to do but I think that’s the fight fans want to see. It’s a merit-based fight.
“In terms of opponents, Joseph will fight anyone and if you look at all the names on his resume from Derek Chisora twice, Joe Joyce, Joshua, Wilder, Dillian Whyte, the list goes on and he’s still only 31-years-old. We’ll fight Anthony Joshua in a heartbeat. Everyone knows Joseph will fight him next but I am not sure that’s an option. We’ll obviously look at any option and see what comes forward.”
Joshua was also in action in the headline bout of the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card that featured the Wilder-Parker encounter. Joshua battered and stopped Otto Wallin in five rounds. Joshua will now be looking for a dance partner, which at the moment appears to be unbeaten contender Filip Hrgovic.