Review by AllTheBestFights.com: 2018-03-31, disappointing fight between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker: it gets two stars.Both undefeated, the 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist and current IBF, IBO and WBA world champion Anthony Joshua entered this fight with a perfect boxing record of 20-0-0 (20 KOs=100%) and he is ranked as the No.1 heavyweight in the world while his opponent, the Wbo Hw champ Joseph Parker, has an official record of 24-0-0 (18 KOs=75%) and he entered as the No.7 in the same weight class. Both boxers fought twice last year: AJ defeated Wladimir Klitschko (Joshua vs Klitschko) and Carlos Takam (Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam) while Parker beat Razvan Cojanu (Joseph Parker vs Razvan Cojanu) and Hughie Fury (Joseph Parker vs Hughie Fury). Parker had also faced Takam, in 2016, winning by unanimous decision (Joseph Parker vs Carlos Takam) while Joshua won via tko in the tenth round. Joshua vs Parker is valid for the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO World heavyweight titles. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Date: 2018-03-31
Where: Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Division: heavyweight (over 200 lbs, 90.7 kg)
Title: IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO World heavyweight titles
Joshua’s previous fight: Anthony Joshua vs Carlos Takam
Parker’s previous fight: Joseph Parker vs Hughie Fury
Parker’s next fight: Dillian Whyte vs Joseph Parker
Joshua’s next fight: Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin
Joshua vs Parker full fight video:
(Free embeddable video hosted on Youtube and not uploaded by AllTheBestFights)
Alternative video hosted on Ok.ru
Parker didn’t commit offensively enough in this fight (as ever). He surely improved his defense (movements, feints, jabs) but his shots kept on sweeping air. Joshua didn’t have to do much, seemed very cautious. Just like Steve Farhood, I had it 117-112.
Now what’s next? I don’t see why Hearn and Arum would rush it and sign a deal for 2018 or even 2019 for a Joshua-Wilder fight. They’ll make even more money in 3 or 4 years from now. Wilder could next fight Whyte and that’d be an interesting fight.
Arum has nothing to do with Wilder. Wilder is with Haymon. But everything you said is 100% accurate in my opinion.
Haha! Right, said Arum instead of Haymond ;) Thanks.
Wilder got hurt bad and almost dropped his last fight, and now joshua fails to knock out his opponet for the first time in his carrer to a guy who wasn’t a very big name at all outside of Australia or hardcore boxing fans and you two are saying let’s give them a few more YEARS before they face each other, lol, boxing is on its way back, why risk the biggest fight you can make for NO reason fight those other guys later, and let there names build up…..joshua n wilder are already there more warm up or subpar matchups are plain ignorant, unless ur a blood sucking manager who just wants to make money anyway, that’s a very weird stand point to have them and us wait three or four more years for that matchup if your an actual boxing fan, super weird
What the hell are you taking about? I never said they should wait. I was correcting someone who said Arum and Hearn need to talk. Wilder is not an Arum fighter. That is all I said. Lay off the crack pipe, man.
Boy 3 or 4 years lol! You got the type of mindset that kills max potential fights. Even 1 or 2 more fights puts them at risk of losing before they even get to actullay see who’s better in there prime with no excuses of another fight possibly taking an effect. Make more money???? Are you getting some of it? Both these boys should be rich until they die after a couple more big fights, if they blow there money stupidly like most athletes do, the conversation will still be about the when the were supose to fight! Not how much money they made from the fight!…ala mayweather vs pacman, are we still talking about how much they made that night? Or how much better the fight would have been say i don’t know 3 or 4 years before that.
Oh! Don’t get me wrong, I would be pleased if Joshua-Wilder was scheduled for 2018-19! There’s no doubt this would be the best matchup, even though I don’t think Joshua has reached his full potential yet. I’m just being realistic. If Hearn can fill a stadium 3 or 4 times with fans willing to pay $200+ to see Joshua against lesser opposition, he will. Not that I agree, not that I think it’s good for boxing, it’s good for Hearn.
Ortiz parker
Wilder whyte
Joshua miller
Povetkin ugonoh
Heavyweight WBSS? *drool*
Both Furys, ruiz takam briggs chisora Haye and tyrone spong could be in there too!!! 16 man instead of 8 man elimination!!! Where u at kalle sauerland call me bro!!!
Jason, you should be on the boxing board of control. Your idea would certainly light up the heavy weight division, in fact it would be a bloody good idea for every division. Individual fighters could represent WBC IBF etc etc but the winners of each division would be sole world champions for their weight class.
thanks for the comment :) there actually is already wbss, i assume you know? super middleweight and cruiserweight. But a heavyweight one with those names would be insane next year. Kalle sauerland hinted at a new weight class being announced soon for the WBSS.
Sh*t fight, no hunger at all. Not bad for a sparring match but was nowhere near a fight….Very dissapointing.
Omg what a stinker both guys afraid to exchange and its not the refs fault for stopping them once they were holding and clinching, otherwise we would get another klitschko povetkin. Its obvious they clearly were both scared to engage on the inside, and stop just a few feet from grappling distance and trade, move back and repeat. They were each hoping to land a right from the outside. But exchanges and combos make big fights and i never expected this out of aj parker. Both combo punchers !!! Uuuuh i think parker hughie was even better than this! Garbage fight.
Parker sold his belt. Dont blame him when he made 20mln but its a shame and I guess they were right saying he the weakest of the champs he just dont have the mentality tho he has the speed and skills. Round ten perfect example why is he panicking holding or retreating instead of holding his ground and letting go with your hands in between ajs punches? One of the few rounds were aj wasnt jabbing and pulling back when parker pressed and repeating. You the shorter guy you gotta take those opportunities. You aint got wilder power son and you said you were gonna make it a war and touch ajs chin? All talk. Boxing really is dead. No bowe holyfield here. Move along.
That ref was becoming annoying stopping the fight every minute like that
A Boring Fight. Josh should a got him outta there earlier but dances with this guy the whole fight. Unimpressed currently Wilder beats Joshua in my book and its cuz of wilders better jab and busier hands.
No offense but wilder does not have better jab or busier hands based on his last outing. Looked for single shot all fight
That’s true. He uses his limited skills to set up that shot, and sadly for his opponents, one shot from him is all it takes. Even a superior technician like Joshua will be at serious risk against Wilder. I wish we had seen a healthy Tyson Fury fight Wilder immediately after Klitschko. That Fury is the only guy out of the current crop that I give a good chance of evading the KO punch — and maybe that Fury will never return.
I find it hard to understand why everybody is feeling like Fury could beat Joshua and/or Wilder, if in fighting shape. Is there something I’m missing?
Fury won a UD against Klitschko (and against all odds) who had remained undefeated in 11 years until then. Still, it was one of the most boring fight I’ve ever seen. That was Fury’s biggest and only significative accomplishment. A year and a half later, Joshua won through adversity a 11th round KO against a much more willing Klitschko, in spectacular fashion. Boxing fans then said Klitschko was too old. My point is: who did better against Klitschko? My answer: Joshua. Was age a factor? I don’t know. I feel like Klitschko was better trained and prepared for Joshua and age didn’t seem to be a factor to me.
Then Wilder faced Ortiz and won in a similar dramatic scenario, like Joshua-Klitschko. Ortiz was almost the same age Klitschko was when he faced Fury. Some boxing fans said Ortiz would’ve done better and might’ve closed the show if he’d been a few years younger. Probably. That’s the only real achievement Wilder has accomplished so far in my opinion. Besides Ortiz, Wilder’s only “big” name on his victims list is Stiverne. In my mind, Stiverne is ranked somewhere close to Martin and not as good as Whyte.
Finally, last Saturday, Joshua won a UD against Parker, in a fight as boring as Klitschko-Fury was, to unify 3 major titles. And now, you’re telling me Fury could make a dramatic comeback and beat Joshua and/or Wilder? I don’t believe that. The more I think about it, the more I feel like:
#1: Joshua
#2: Wilder
#3: Povetkin
#4: Ortiz
All speculations on Wilder are based on one and one only thing: his puncher’s luck. I’m not convinced. One could argue that styles make the fights, or that a fighter is always as good as his last performance.
100% correct in everything you said
Very good case you make, Olivier.
I don’t think Fury should be counted out until we see what is left of him. My case is only for his evasive ability. It is–or was–better than that of everyone else in the division. Klitschko couldn’t lay a hand on him until late in the fight, and only barely. The Ukrainian android couldn’t figure out the gypsy’s footwork and rhythms, that schizophrenia of jerky feinting and retreating.
By contrast, Joshua fought a brutal shoot-out with the old robot. It says something unfortunate about stiff Joshua that he couldn’t get out of the way of Wlad’s repetitive jab and one-two combos. He was able to out-last him in a messy victory that we all enjoyed. It was exciting: we hadn’t seen Klit trade blows like that in a decade, since before Emanuel Steward rescued his career, and suddenly he’s trading like Apple stock at half price! My hope was, “Let this be the end of the dull Klitschko era.” The last two Joshua fights have me thinking I’m going to be disappointed.
Joshua easily has more power than Fury, so if he can land, he’d likely hurt the Gypsy King. However, if Fury hasn’t lost his timing and speed, he should be able to spasmodically “dance,” feint and out-point him. If that happened I’m afraid he’d make it look like a repeat of Fury-Klitschko, your favorite all-time fight.
In your Top Four, I’m only interested in watching Nos. 2-4. It’s lamentable because two of those guys will retire soon. Below that, things really turn boring: Pulev, Whyte, Parker, Miller, Breazeale.
I’d be content to watch Wilder KO everyone. The last thing I want to watch is Joshua reinventing himself as Klitschko 2.0.
Great analyze of the situation in the HW division and great computer analogies too!
About Joshua turning into a boring fighter, I just want to say I’m not surprised it turned out this way. When Joshua turned pro, after olympic gold, we knew he would become a huge prospect in the division. Still, in order to attract the masses, he needed to be spectacular, flashy, charismatic. He accomplished that hands down. It took him only 16 fights to become a world champion. All won by KO. Always a well-spoken gentleman in front of the camera. Then a couple more fights and he was up against the robot. The way you described this fight was perfect, nothing to add. But here’s my point: that was the end of Joshua’s climbing to the top of the division. Until then, he had to take risks, was tested and scared (by the Klitschko’s fight). He then became the ultimate man to beat. Now, it’s almost impossible for him to climb any higher than that. All that’s left for him to accomplish is to build a lasting dynasty. He proved to be able to win without taking much risks against Parker (his new fighting software seems to be working) so he’s going to keep doing this as long as he’s on top. But yes, taking less risks in the ring unfortunately means less dramatic fights because there’s too much at stake. As long as he remains champion, no matter how, O2 Arena will remain sold out twice a year.
On the other hand, it’s unfortunate that Wilder remains one of the only exciting HW left right now partly because he’s not as talented/intelligent as a fighter (i.e. doesn’t have the basic system requirements to install a decent boxing software).
Enjoyed your response!
Why not fight Povetking. Why whyte. Crazy.
Povetkin would have made it interesting. For skills, he’s my No. 1 in the heavyweight division, though at 38 he’s fading. Lazy David Price was able to rock him this weekend.
a mediocre struggle
from start to finish
Both fighters were hitting a hell of a lot of air and very little flesh. You can not win fights by backpedalling and not engaging. Both fighters were reluctant to engage at close range even without the referee’s rapid intervention. Parker in my view has superior body and head movement and also has superior hand speed. He also showed by going the full twelve rounds that Joshua is not the be all to end all that he is touted to be. I would bet that he will only hold these
belts until he meets Wilder. Parker should get rid of Barry and the rest of Barry’s nippon clipons and find someone that teaches agression, not protection and jabs, either this or take the money and retire before he has gets ripped like Tua. Marciano had arms a hell of a lot shorter than Parker, he learned early on that you have to smack flesh not air!
Amen! Its not the refs fault for stopping a klitschko like fight when they were the ones holding and mainly parker!!!!
If Klitschko had a fight like this people would crucify him. Parker never really tried. He talked big but fought timid. There wasn’t one exciting round. I miss true heavyweights clashes. This was poor. Tak am performance was poor. Very bad.
Glad i aint the only one who sees it this way ref did nothing wrong he only stopped in when they clinched im not sure why ppl are blaming him
When its the fighters to blame!!!
Great controlled fight by Joshua, tactically 100% right. Why risk playing into Parker’s hands when he control the whole fight with the jab, pick him off when he sees the opening. Every fight is different and you fight the person in front of you. Joshua was true to his word, could have taken him out a few times but people say they want to see if he has the stamina to go the distance right? Well there you have it, 12 rounds out of 12, who’s next.
So disappointing
Super Flyweights are more exciting
DearJoshua wrote
DearJoshua more
Dear Host,
Please be so kind to post another video of this fight since one previously provided isn’t more available.
Thank you very much
new video posted just for you;-)
Dear ATBF,
Any chance you can find the Josh Kelly v. Carlos Molina fight from the Joshua-Parker undercard?
Thank you :-)
Josh Kelly vs Carlos Molina
I just get the chance today to watch the last video you posted which was quite good. Thank you host.
AJ is the best fighter rite now, but still needs lot of work. in my
opinion, there is no fighter rite now that will beat him, cause there is
not a good heavy weight rite bow, but he will definitely kill wilder.
AJ is definitely beatable
Pretty dull affair! As expected.
Parker is a dry tactician. He has the temperament of a koala. Even against Andy Ruiz, Jr. he didn’t pour it on, and Ruiz was out of shape and never has had a big punch.
What happened to Joshua? Since he went life-or-death with old man Klitschko, he has been a seriously reluctant fighter. He let the average Takam off easy. He never pressed it on Saturday with the smaller, cautious Parker, even after buzzing him. He’s matured since conquering Wladimir, but sadly it’s made him duller.
My heavyweight rankings:
1. Wilder
2. Joshua
3. Povetkin
4. Ortiz
5. Parker
6. Whyte or Miller or Ruiz or Hughie Fury
I don’t think a single one of these guys survives Wilder, even though most of them are more skilled.
You’re right about Joshua. Since he fought Klitschko, he’s much more careful. He seems more scared to lose than eager to win. Both guys he’s fought since didn’t push him beyond his comfort zone like Klitschko did. Still, when push comes to shove, I believe Joshua will certainly deliver.
I agree 100% with your rankings, except I’d say Wilder and Joshua are tied at #1. ALL of them are better technicians than Wilder is, but I found it very hard to compare their skills against his madness. I think the wild card here is Povetkin. I really hope he faces Wilder next, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Wilder decided to fight a guy like Whyte instead.
“…their skills against his madness” — le mot juste!
Yes, Povetkin would be a fascinating fight. He has more speed and fluidity than the bigger, stiffer Ortiz. His time is running out…so it must be soon. You saw that lucky punch Price landed on him; he can’t afford to let Wilder do that. A one-way ticket to the madhouse. :-)
Arjay Cee: Very good analysis but i strongly believe that Joshua will be the winner against Wilder if this fight goes ahead.
You will go with skills over power?
I think Ortiz, who got Wilder in serious trouble, is a much better technician than Joshua. He also moves better, despite being enormous. So he was able to get inside and do some damage on Wilder. If that had been Joshua, Wilder would have been KO’d.
For me, Tango, it comes down to whether Wilder can keep Joshua at distance and land his bombs. He can KO at short range too (as Szpilka learned). There will be no safe space for Joshua, but then, Wilder’s weak chin means the fight can quickly go against him, too. I hope we see this one soon!
The fight was quite slow since both guys were respecting each other too much. Joshua, in spite of going always forward and controlling the fight was very captious and never get unleashed. His best round was the last one when he took some risks after being sure he was winning the fight. Both guys have quick hands, both in good shape and undoubtedly their skills are quite good. Parker jabbing was very nice but because the big difference in reach was unable to stop the Joshua’s attack.