Three years ago, Joseph Parker’s career in boxing looked done after a brutal knockout loss to a British heavyweight, but then things changed.
Parker has always been a fan favourite who takes on all opponents, including Anthony Joshua during his peak as the unified heavyweight champion of the world.
Fast forward to now, and he is in line to face Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight titles, if he can beat Fabio Wardley on 25 October at the O2 Arena.
Wardley will be the seventh British opponent of the New Zealander, and it would have been his eighth if a scheduled fight with Daniel Dubois had not been cancelled during fight week.
Joseph Parker brutally lost to a British fighter, but both fighters’ careers took unexpected turns
He has four wins against British fighters but has lost three times, including to a boxer who looked like he finished Parker’s career for good when they faced off in September 2022.
An opportunity to become the WBO interim heavyweight champion ended in a devastating 11th-round knockout loss to the then-unbeaten ‘Juggernaut’ Joe Joyce at the AO Arena in Manchester.
After toiling through 10 bruising rounds and a cut above his eye, Parker was floored heavily by a Joyce left hook and was unable to beat the referee’s count.
While it seemed that this would be the maiden win for the ‘Juggernaut’ and the end of the New Zealand fighter’s career, the complete opposite occurred.
The undefeated British star would be beaten in four of his five contests following the knockout, with two losses inside the first six rounds to Zheli Zhang.
Although he was touted for a world title fight, it is now highly unlikely that the 2016 Olympic silver medallist will have a shot at the belts.
Remarkably, Parker, the fighter he beat, is a fight away from a title shot after racking up six victories following his loss to become the WBO interim champion.
Joseph Parker rose from the canvas twice to become the interim champion against a former Joe Joyce opponent
Even more interesting about their careers following the pair’s fight was that the 33-year-old Parker beat Zhang, who had knocked Joyce out twice.
But he faced adversity when he was knocked down by two heavy strikes from ‘Big Bang’ in rounds three and eight.
Despite this, the fighter, who trained with Tyson Fury, performed well enough to earn a majority decision on the scorecards.
His next fight will be the third defence of his crown after he demolished Martin Bakole in the second round of their February clash.