(This comment originally appeared on David’s own site www.boxingwriter.co.uk)
Any boxing match worth its salt is a cocktail of knowns and unknowns. Proposing multiple potential results, paradoxical in the conflict of conviction and uncertainty that these possibilities cause. Fight Week should play to those conclusions, provoke doubt, shift perspective, and stimulate debate for those with the wisdom to embrace reflection rather than dismiss anything that doesn’t validate their own opinion. A common failure in the echo chamber of our own social networks.
This weekend’s heavyweight battle between Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker doesn’t have all of those ingredients. As a result, he was unable to play into the interest of fight fans, as the final days and hours before the first bell go by the way the best fights usually do. Both Joes possess strengths and weaknesses, present a variation of form and experience, and also offer complementary styles. There has always been a lot to like in the game. The fight features enough danger and reward for the victor and the vanquished to encourage a fierce commitment from the two leading knights as well.
Despite these truths, it didn’t quite capture this writer’s imagination until Andy Lee, Parker’s trainer, was asked to justify his belief that the New Zealander could make this an easy fight at a pre-match press conference. to the fight.
From his answer to that question and the resulting ones, perceptions about the fight changed.
Whisper, holler if you feel inclined, but the heavyweight division, which would be in poor health if the main characters were a little busier, may have stumbled upon an unexpected classic this Saturday.
Joseph Parker comes into the fight as the underdog despite a demonstrably deeper track record, which includes a stint as a WBO belt holder and, unbelievably, he’s still only 30 years old. He has good mobility, a strong chin and quick hands. A respectable puncher too, Parker has transplanted himself to the North West of England for his current run at heavyweight titles with the aforementioned Andy Lee, the former fighter, one-time WBO belt holder as well, as the trainer. of the. A shared camp with his friend Tyson Fury.
Hear Dan Rafael with TJ Rives previewing Joyce-Parker on our BetUS Friday TV show by clicking below:
The story of this fight, the narrative with which the pin was placed on the calendar, is, or was, that Parker would provide a high-level, respectable opponent for the Juggernaut. The perception is that Parker was, despite his youth, a fading force. Motivation waned and the excellence promised at twenty had given way to something more malleable, more circumspect.
Neither Joyce nor Parker are talkative talkers. The New Zealand man is more accomplished but is a respectful professional. He does not offer click bait quotes. He doesn’t knock over tables or litter the room with profanity. So the renovation stories, as sincere as his intentions were, didn’t move the needle, didn’t distract from the idea that Joyce was bigger, stronger, and had better stamina.
Joyce would soak up the success that Parker’s hand and foot speed would provide early on and overwhelm an exhausted former “champ” with work rate and shot weight. That was the established intersection of their respective career paths. There was risk for Joyce, as the product of ‘breakthrough’ in the fight and on the cusp of a title shot, vacant or not, but that risk was cured.
Bigger Joe did not suggest deviating from this plot. Sound bytes are not his forte.
He was ready, emboldened by a solid string of wins against familiar, if not distinguished opponents, and his proximity to the final step. At 37 years old, time is not his friend, but natural strength, forcefulness and a work rhythm recognized by all his contemporaries are. The reunion with coach Ismael Salas, after periods with Adam Booth and Abel Sánchez, is still under review, but his style has certainty and simplicity.
It’s not smooth, it’s not fast, it’s not flashy. But it works and is reliable.
Comparisons to George Foreman’s second career, perhaps overzealous, visual echoes of late starter Matt Skelton are less flattering: Joyce’s career can dissect the two. If he does it, he would still represent success and can lead him to win the title, if the time is right and the circumstances are right.
So the two of them moved on to the weekend. The imperturbable narrative. Boxing fans intrigued, casuals not so much, despite the name recognition of both here in the UK. Parker, after all, boxed here in five of his last nine fights. He win three of five fights with Hughie Fury, Dillian Whyte, Anthony Joshua and Dereck Chisora (x2). However, he has not been thrilled to do so.
And that’s where the fight was. Believable, interesting and easy to predict.
Until that was, Andy Lee, the former middleweight who carved out his own niche as a boxing trainer since his retirement, spoke at the news conference and, to this observer at least, broke the accepted script. Like the best fights, fight week had finally produced the required doubt. Lee inserted another perspective into the consciousness of those present and watching online. Had this idea, or presentation of the facts, been delivered by someone else, it may not have come about in the way he did.
The café-au-lait tracksuit, salt-and-pepper beard, and the tall, lean, angular figure of a wrestler perched on the dais all added to the impact of his words. Lee has a unique combination of his own languid confidence, the accent of his Irish traveler roots, and the scars of a hard run still visible on a broken face. Everything helps to validate his opinion. Each expression is laced with the wisdom of those old voices for which he is a natural and refreshing conduit.
