Joseph Parker's speed and toughness will be big barriers for Anthony Joshua to overcome. Photo / Photosport.nz
Joseph Parker's speed and toughness will be big barriers for Anthony Joshua to overcome. Photo / Photosport.nz
Anthony Joshua stands between Joseph Parker and, not just unification, but credibility in the boxing world's eyes.
The unification bout looks set to be formally announced in the next few days for late March or early April at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.
Like Deontay Wilder, there is a perception the WBO heavyweight champion's pedigree is buoyed by a lacklustre set of previous opponents.
It can be said Joshua, the current IBF, WBA and IBO heavyweight champion, hasn't had the toughest route to the top either. Other than an ageing Wladimir Klitschko, who should have beaten the Brit, there isn't any fighter of particular note.
Parker and Joshua have only one common opponent - Carlos Takam. Neither fully impressed against the doughty yet limited Cameroonian-French pugilist, making judging who holds the advantage heading into the clash difficult.
In fact, deciphering who is the favourite isn't simple.
On paper, Joshua would edge in front. His 1.98m height and 2.085m reach holds a decent buffer over Parker (1.93m and 1.98m respectively).
However in the ring there are qualities that Parker possesses that should worry Joshua, Eddie Hearn and trainer Rob McCracken - namely his speed and granite chin.
Joshua's title winning knockout of Klitschko showed the world both his best and worst qualities inside the ring.
Anthony Joshua will be Joseph Parker's sternest test, one he may struggle to pass. Photo / Getty Images
In round five, Klitschko clocked his much younger opponent and sent him to the canvas.
For the first time in his career, Joshua was fighting a premier opponent and the gulf in power and class between Klitschko and any other fighter he came up against was deathly apparent.
Parker is yet to feel the floor of the ring in a bout and Joshua definitely would threaten that run, but previous fights have shown his ability to take a punch.
That should be something that Joshua will need to take into account and it looks like he already has, aiming to be around 112kg for the Parker stoush. That's 3kg lighter than he was in his uninspiring win over Takam.
This should increase his speed and lessen the damage Parker can deal. Parker's speed is a major weapon in his arsenal.
However Joshua came back and ended Klitschko's undisputed dominance of the heavyweight division. A younger Klitschko would have pounced on a hurt Joshua after the early knockdown but he didn't, and Joshua's superior conditioning eventually won him the bout.
Joshua is a phenomenal physical specimen. He looks like a proper athlete and trains like one, not that Parker doesn't, but photos don't lie.
It is tough to predict how this fight will go and what will happen if Parker goes down.
If he lost, but put on a brilliantly courageous performance, he'd no doubt be given opportunities down the line.
However an early defeat could be cataclysmic. David Tua's career nose-dived after his defeat to Lennox Lewis in his heavyweight title bid. Could the same happen to Parker?
Given Parker's utmost professionalism and work ethic, you would assume that would not happen.
But what if he won? And he very well could do just that.
Wilder looms as a future opponent as well as the likes of Cuban defector Luis Ortiz, Brit Dillian Whyte and Bulgaria's Kubrat Pulev. Even Tyson Fury, a mate of Parker's, looks to be getting back into fighting shape and holds more pedigree than any of the aforementioned.
We'll have to wait until late March or early April to see what happens, but don't rule out seeing an undisputed Kiwi heavyweight champion walk out of Cardiff.
