NZBoxChat

He's only been sparring these guys regular for the last 4 years.
What would he know?

Joseph Parker's world title prospects increase as WBO puts heat on ill Tyson Fury video

There will be no lack of knockout power when heavyweights Joseph Parker and Alexander Dimitrenko square off on October 1 in Manukau.

Joseph Parker's world title prospects have increased with the WBO putting heat on Tyson Fury to explain his medical condition.

Fury pulled out of his defence of the WBO and WBA titles in a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, citing mental health issues.

The WBO have given him 10 days to produce medical proof, raising the prospects of him being stripped of that title.

New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker knows victory against Alexander Dimitrenko is crucial with bigger fights lining up.

Parker is ranked No 1 with the WBO and is also the mandatory challenger to the IBF belt held by Britain's Anthony Joshua.

Suddenly the 24-year-old Kiwi finds himself in the driver's seat for challenges to two of the coveted belts, if Fury loses that WBO title.

Parker fights Russian Alexander Dimitrenko in Manukau on Saturday night, a risky fight given everything on his horizon, but one his handlers feel he needs to negotiate, given his opponent's size - and the bigger yet challenges ahead.

"So long as Joseph Parker wins on Saturday night, he is locked into the best position of any heavyweight in the world with the exception of Anthony Joshua himself," claimed Parker's promoter Dean Lonergan on Wednesday as news broke of the WBO's toughening stance against Fury.

Lonergan's logic suggests that if Parker doesn't fight Joshua on November 26 as the mandatory challenger there's the prospect of lining up a shot against Klitschko or Andy Ruiz for the vacant WBO belt if Fury is stripped.

"Joe is perfectly positioned, it's a fascinating time."

The WBO's threatening letter to Fury read: "We would appreciate that the physician specifically clarifies the nature and extent of your condition and your prognosis for return to training and your return to competition.

"If the Championship Committee does not receive the complete requested information, i.e. the Interim Certification, together with the Psychological and/or Mental Evaluation, within the allotted time frame of 10 days, the Committee will proceed with the necessary appropriate action without the benefit of an appeal."

Joshua's manager Eddie Hearn continues to work towards a November 26 showdown with Klitschko in Manchester with the prospect of the WBA belt being added to the booty.

Just how that works when Cuban Luis Ortiz is the WBA No 1 ahead of Klitschko and Joshua isn't even ranked in the organisation's top 15 is another mystery of a cluttered boxing scene.

But Hearn feels the Klitschko deal is workable, telling Boxingnewsonline.com "things are moving at a very, very quick pace".

"He [Joshua] wants the [Klitschko] fight. He wants to fight everybody, he wants to fight Fury, he wants to fight David Haye. The training team will make their mind up and he'll do what the training team say. But the training team say the deal is right and the belts are on the line, we'll take the fight. So it's my job now to make sure the deal is right and everything else falls into place," Hearn said.

"The governing bodies aren't going to sleep on this situation. They want the belts to be active as soon as possible."

Hearn has Parker as the fallback option if the Klitschko deal can't be made quickly. The Kiwi's mandatory would be called, making him the main event for Manchester rather than an undercard role.

- Stuff

If Klit fought AJ and won, it would postpone the title bout for Parker unless Klit agrees to fight his mandatory (Parker) right away.

Parker Dimitrenko head to head:





Certainly not the crazy height difference Duco tried to portray.

Joseph must be about 193cm now. The high side of 6ft 4

I remember KB said a little while ago JP is 6'4 and a half.

Alexander Dimitrenko says Joseph Parker is already looking at world champion Anthony Joshua rather than their heavyweight clash in Manukau on Saturday

Boxers Joseph Parker and Alexander Dimitrenko trade verbal blows at Burger King ahead of their heavyweight fight on Saturday.

Alexander Dimitrenko has accused Joseph Parker of looking past him, though the Kiwi heavyweight says he's been cutting out social and mainstream media to avoid the world title talk distracting him from beating the giant Russian.

Parker fights Dimitrenko in Manukau on Saturday night, a risky bout set against an intriguing backdrop that has increasing speculation of his mandatory rights to fight IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua being called into action, perhaps as early as November 26.

Parker insists his focus is totally on Dimitrenko though the Russian felt he was "going under the radar" of the 24-year-old Kiwi - which would be a danger.

Russian Alexander Dimitrenko and New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker cuddle ahead of their Saturday night fight in Manukau.

Dimitrenko suggested he was in an advantaged position given the circumstances that have developed since he arrived in New Zealand two weeks ago with as much Parker talk coming out of London as Auckland.

"I'm going under the radar a little bit. He's already looking past me and concentrating on Anthony Joshua," Dimitrenko said.

"That could be a bad joke if he doesn't concentrate on the fight.

"It's best to look at my feet rather than behind my back.

"I've had that experience before and looked into the future and I won't make that mistake again.

"Joseph is a young fighter and he doesn't have that experience yet," added Dimitrenko, a 34-year-old veteran of 40 fights with just two losses.

Parker brushed off those claims. The realisation that his mandatory position with the IBF would disappear if he lost to Dimitrenko had increased his focus.

"I've put everything into this fight - all my thoughts, my feelings, everything," Parker insisted.

"I've just been listening to what mum and dad have been saying and also my team ... we have to get past this fight [first]. I've just been focussing on my opponent rather than thinking about the future."

That included putting himself on an internet diet. An avid user of various forms of social media, Parker has cut down during his week and a half in Auckland to avoid the speculation of being pushed early into a clash with Joshua, or, at the very least, appearing, on the undercard in Manchester.

"I've hardly been on social media which is good ... and keeping away from news and things about what we are trying to do," Parker said oif precautions he had taken.

"In Vegas I'm on social media a lot more. Usually in New Zealand I'd put up one post a day on Instagram. I've only posted once since I've been here."

Parker's trainer Kevin Barry said while the stakes were incredibly high, this wasn't a new position of pressure for Parker and he backed his fighter to cope with what was swirling around him.

"We have been in a situation quite a few times where we have had to fight and we've already had someone else signed," Barry explained.

"Joe has gone through this exercise. We know as a team and Joe understands ... I have given him examples of guys looking past the guy in front of them. When you start conducting your business in the future you know your performance is going to suffer.

"So our focus has only been on one guy and that's Alexander Dimitrenko."

There were no fireworks when the two fighters fronted an Auckland media session on Wednesday. Hugs and handshakes were on display rather than any animosity hanging over from last week when when Parker accused Dimitrenko of being disrespectful for saying Parker had lost to Carlos Takam in their IBF eliminator rather than getting the unanimous points decision from the judges.

Parker reiterated his view in a general greeting but didn't take it any further.

"We shook hands, he has his opinion about things and I have mine. It's a new day, we saw each other, shook hands and we're ready to fight," Parker said.

- Stuff

I like Dimitrenko, he's doing a good job of selling the fight and creating a bit of controversy.

Hopefully it'll be a cracker of a fight

Dimitrenko's frame is a lot wider than Parker's judging by the press conference.

in for a payday