By Barry Holbrook: Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker will meet tonight for the interim WBO heavyweight title at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Fight action begins at 1:00 pm ET on ESPN+ in the US and BT Sport Boxing in the UK.
Boxing News 24 will provide live updates and results below the action.
The ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce (14-0, 13 KOs) has the size advantage and perhaps the better engine against former WBO champion Parker (30-2, 21 KOs). Parker has faster hands and is much more mobile.
In the first half, Parker is expected to wear the ring to avoid costly trades with Joyce. In the second half of the fight, Parker will likely slow down and be forced to switch.
Women’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano will have three of her titles on the line against IBF champion Sarah Mahfoud in the main support bout.
“Any fight can be easy. The styles and tactics you use can make a fight easy,” Joseph Parker’s trainer Andy Lee told ID Boxing.
Full card:
Joe Joyce vs. Joe Joyce Joseph ParkerAmanda Serrano vs. Joseph Parker Sarah MahfoudNathan Heaney vs. Sarah Mahfoud Jack FlatleyMichael Magnesi vs. Jack Flatley Anthony CacaceEssuman vs. Anthony Cacace Samuel AntwiMark Heffron vs. Samuel Antwi Martin BulacioRaven Chapman vs. Martin Bulacio Jorgelina Guanini
“If Joe does what he’s supposed to do, he can have an easy night. To say that Joyce is big and strong and that she is ruthless. We’re just talking about attributes and basic stuff.
“Like I said, if you measure them attribute by attribute, Parker is way ahead of him. You don’t want to have any doubts in the back of your mind. He literally hasn’t had a bad day of training, and he’s prepared, right?
“He has had the best of sparring. Martin Bakole, Nick Campbell and Tyson Fury gave him advice, raced him, coached him and motivated him. He has had his brother here; he had had Paddy Donovan here supporting him and training partners.
He’s used Tyson’s home gym and everything else. She has had a fantastic camp. There has been no problem. So we have left no stone unturned, and all you have to do is fight now.
“Parker is a 12-round fighter. They trust Joseph to get tired, so we’ve worked on that. We were doing long, long rounds in the gym. We were doing 10 rounds, 12 rounds of combat on a regular basis. He has the engine. He has done it many times in 12-round fights,” Lee said.
