Joe Joyce and Joseph Parker put on the kind of fight almost everyone expected to see, with Joyce defeating a gritty and tough Parker in the 11th round.
Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) dropped Parker over the course of the fight, but the New Zealand native and former WBO champion also held his own, frequently buying time, coming back to land clean punches of his own. and prevent Joyce from selling out entirely.
After a couple of pretty good rounds in the ninth and tenth from Parker (30-3, 21 KO), Joyce looked to get off to a fast start in round 11, and it paid off. At that point, Parker had been in some kind of admirable desperation play for a few rounds, and when Joyce landed a clean left hook, Parker fell to the canvas. Although he tried his best to get up (and managed to get to his feet), the referee counted him out.
The official time of the knockout was 1:03 of the 11th round.
The win is the best of Joyce’s career thus far, in that Parker is in the top 10 at heavyweight, his opponent with the most useful experience, and, in fact, fought quite well himself. It also gives Joyce the interim WBO title, and it completely confirms him as a serious contender, and when you see him fight and the way he eats good punches like they don’t even land, then he keeps moving forward with some good offense on his part. . own, it’s hard not to see it as a tough night for anyone in the heavyweight ranks.
Highlights of Joyce vs. Parker
Amanda Serrano UD-10 Sarah Mahfoud
Serrano’s victory gives him the IBF title from Mahfoud, so Serrano now holds the WBC, IBF and WBO belts at 126 pounds, leaving only Erika Cruz’s WBA title without his possession, and the plan will be to do that next and go for uncontested.
The scores were 97-93, 97-93 and 99-92 for Serrano. He had it closer at 96-94, but it was a clear 96-94, if that makes sense, and he could see it a round wider, too. It’s not so much that Mahfoud (11-1, 3 KOs) did anything unexpected, but Serrano (43-2-1, 30 KOs) put in one of the worst and certainly least inspired performances of his remarkable championship-level career. .
It’s not that Serrano put up a bad fight either, but rather in the second half of the fight it looked like he was totally and completely on cruise control, and that shadowed Mahfoud’s path for a few rounds. Even in the tenth and final round, when Serrano tried to turn the heat back on and go out and dominate the round, it didn’t work; she had switched off and couldn’t fully “turn on” again, and Mahfoud was able to hit shots and match the work rate.
But a clean win for Serrano, who still clearly looks like the best fighter at this weight. However, this was a far cry from the Serrano we saw against Katie Taylor at 135. Sometimes the best fighters have nights off and still beat it with the W, and this was one for Serrano.
Undercard results and highlights
Nathan Heaney Tech. UD-5 Jack Flatley: The fight was stopped at 2:05 of the fifth round after a brutal clash of heads opened a nasty cut over Heaney’s right eye. The scores were 49-46, 49-46 and 50-45. I had it 49-47 as I don’t like to score partial rounds where I didn’t think anyone had clearly won it by then so the last one was a 10-10 for me. Heaney (16-0, 6 KOs) is 33, so the edge isn’t really there, but he is a ticket seller and valuable on these Warren cards. Flatley drops to 19-3-1 (4 KOs). Anthony Cacace SD-12 Michael Magnesi: The scores were 116-112 Magnesi and then 116-112 and 117-111 for Cacace. Bad Left Hook had it 115-113 for Cacace. Good fight, even, and a lot of respect and sportsmanship at the end by both sides. This is basically at the European level (it was for the supposedly “world” IBO title, which Magnesi held upon entering), but it was a good European level, two solid fighters who put up a good fight. Surprisingly quiet crowd, just horrible. Queensberry’s secondary billboards may be the new standard for the “quiet crowd.” Take that, Japan. Scoring here may seem far-fetched, but I think it may have largely depended on how you scored the first six rounds. He had it 3-3 after six, but almost all of those rounds could have gone either way. If you gave most, five or all to Magnesi, it’s easy to get to a 116-112 Magnesi card. For me, Cacace took over in the second half and had four straight rounds between the eighth and eleventh in which I thought he clearly did a better job. Ekow Essuman UD-12 Samuel Antwi: The win keeps Essuman undefeated at 18-0 (7 KOs), and he keeps the British and Commonwealth belts around his waist. Not at the same time, mind you. But also at the same time. The scores were 115-114, 116-113 and 117-112. Bad Left Hook had it 116-112 for Essuman on our unofficial undercard. For most of it, he was a little better, he did the most remarkable job, he outboxed Antwi (14-2, 6 KOs), and while Antwi’s corner felt he had won, I can’t see it. Essuman is 33 years old and dreams of winning a world title, but just by being an honest outsider, those dreams will remain dreams, even though they are the dreams he should be dreaming. Mark Heffron TKO-1 MartÃn Bulacio: Nothing fights. Heffron (29-2-1, 23 KOs) just fought in July, beating Lennox Clarke for the British and Commonwealth titles at 168, and is a real quality domestic fighter. Bulacio (10-7, 7 KOs) is just a 33-year-old Argentine who has now lost three in a row and six of his last nine. Nothing tested here, nothing useful about it. Raven Chapman UD-8 Jorgelina Guanini: The scores were 77-75, 78-74, 79-73. I think 77-75 better reflects the fight, where the 28-year-old Chapman (4-0, 2 KOs) started fast but faded a little late. No problem with her winning though, I think she deserved it. Guanini (10-5-2, 1 KO) has become all too familiar to die-hard UK boxing fans and those who watch UK shows and shows involving UK fighters: He has fought a handful of British prospects, that’s what I mean, their last three have been against them. She narrowly lost to Ellie Scotney, beat Stevi Levy and now loses to Chapman. She is a tough, solid fighter who is fighting well above her natural weight at 126 and can still handle herself very well as a gatekeeper, one who can really hold a gate.
