Joseph Parker celebrates victory after his unanimous decision over Deontay Wilder in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Activity matters, as columnist and pundit Steve Kim likes to remind the boxing world.
Activity wasn’t the only factor in Joseph Parker’s upset unanimous decision victory over Deontay Wilder in the co-main event of Judgment Day on Saturday, but fighting just once (a fight that lasted less than a round) since October 2021 certainly did not help the feared performance of the American veteran.
Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 heavyweight and one of the best pure punchers of the modern era, simply wasn’t able to pull the trigger with his vaunted right hand against Parker, who won. by scores of 120-108, 118-110 and 118-111.
Parker (34-3, 23 KOs), The Ring’s No. 5 heavyweight, took his time during the 12-round fight, applying careful pressure behind a hard body shot until he was in position to throw his right hand. overhead.
Joseph Parker forces Deontay Wilder to return during their co-main event at the Day of Reckoning event at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Parker, fighting his fourth fight of 2023, won each round simply by throwing and landing more leather, although he didn’t land cleanly often and didn’t appear to hurt Wilder until the end of the eighth round. The champion from his trilogy with Tyson Fury showed some aggression in rounds 9 and 12, but remained on the move for most of the fight without incident.
The knockout artist couldn’t find the one-hit pitcher he used to attack Robert Helenius last October, and with this loss, he may have ruined a big showdown with Anthony Joshua that was being planned for March in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. the site for Saturday’s massive card.
With the win, Parker, who was thought to have finished as a top heavyweight player following his 11th round knockout loss to Joe Joyce last September, is back in the mix and a strong contender for the award. to the Return of the Year 2023.
“Dangerous fight, tough fight, but we trained very hard for this and we had momentum for this fight,” Parker said. “The strategy was to stay calm, be relaxed and focused.
“Maybe inactivity played an important role.” [in Wilder’s performance]. [My activity] It helped me enormously, that was my drive, I stayed in camp and in shape. [all year].”
Wilder admitted that his inactivity, as well as talk of the big showdown with Joshua, may have put him off.
“My timing was off a little bit,” Wilder said. “Congratulations to Joseph, he did a great job avoiding my hits.
“[The talk of the Joshua fight] It affected me just a little bit. We don’t make excuses. We’ll see what happens [next]. I have done a great job managing and investing my money. I’m a warrior, so I’ll be back soon, but if not, it’s been a pleasure. I have found peace and happiness in my life.”
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