Manchester Arena, Manchester – For the interim WBO heavyweight title, Olympic silver medal winner Joe Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) collapsed and knocked out former WBO world champion Joseph Parker (30- 3, 21 KOs) in the eleventh round.
He started a fight with Joyce pressing. They were both hitting away. They traded some blows with Parker landing better. In the second, Parker was connecting better as Joyce pressed forward, looking to drop Parker. Joyce was hitting well. They both went to the body. Joyce took over the round with her jab and hard shots. Parker’s nose was bleeding and his left eye was red.
Joyce was hitting Parker to the head and body in the third and got him into serious trouble. Parker was able to weather the storm and responded with some shots of his own in the final minute. Joyce’s jab was controlling the action in the fourth. Parker finished strong with several hard right hands.
They were exchanging shots in the fifth to the body for most of the action. He was close with Joyce pressing. Joyce came out firing in the sixth and never stopped, landing hard shots to the head and body. Parker seemed to be stunned, but he kept responding. During the seventh, both started with hard shots connecting. It was a back-and-forth with Joyce landing the hardest shots that were doing the most damage. Parker was badly cut above his right eye.
Joyce came out firing again at the top of the eight. She was hitting Parker, who was bleeding profusely from the cut on her eye. Parker seemed to get hurt several times during the round as Joyce was dealing a lot of damage. In the ninth, Parker landed a huge uppercut, but Joyce took the shot and responded with several hard punches of his own. Parker looked exhausted as Joyce pressed and fired.
It was give and take in the tenth. They were both working hard. They were both tired, and Parker seemed to be the more exhausted of the two. Parker landed a series of punches in the closing seconds. During the eleventh, Joyce landed a big left hand that dropped Parker hard. Parker struggled to get up and was counted out.
MORE DETAILS TO COME ……………
