Luis Ortiz reacts after being knocked down by Deontay Wilder. Photo / Ap
Luis Ortiz reacts after being knocked down by Deontay Wilder. Photo / Ap
Joseph Parker sent heavyweight rival Deontay Wilder good luck messages before his fight against Luis Ortiz and texts of congratulations after what turned out to be the best scrap in the division since Anthony Joshua's victory over Wladimir Klitschko in April last year.
Parker and his team get on well with Wilder, and the American wants to spend time with Parker in Cardiff before the Kiwi's unification fight against Joshua on April 1 NZT.
But Parker's wish for a Wilder win went beyond friendship and respect. He wants to unify all the belts, and a win by Cuban Ortiz, who has failed two drugs tests and would likely have been a tricky individual to negotiate with, would have made that so much harder.
There is potential for Parker to fight Wilder, the WBC champion, this year, but to get that opportunity he will have to get past Joshua, the holder of the IBF and WBA titles, twice.
Joshua has negotiated a rematch clause into the contract which dictates he will get another go at Parker, the current WBO champion, should he lose. Parker has no such luxury, but Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has already said on the record that, should Parker lose at the Millennium Stadium but fight well, a re-match would make financial sense for everyone.
Parker's promoter David Higgins told the Herald: "If Joe gets past Joshua, a rematch could be held perhaps in the English summer – the end of July. Our team have shown we're willing to put the foot on the throttle. We'd have no trouble fighting three times a year."
Deontay Wilder, left, follows through on a punch to Luis Ortiz during the 10th round. photo / AP
Wilder has spoken of a willingness to unify the titles in Las Vegas, but Higgins said: "It would need to be the right deal. If Wilder isn't willing to respect Joe, if he says 'I want all the revenue', it won't happen."
Parker and trainer Kevin Barry sat down together at their Las Vegas base to watch the Wilder v Ortiz fight, which was held in Brooklyn in front of a crowd of about 14,000.
And Barry felt several questions about 32-year-old Wilder were answered during the fight of his life.
"Coming into the fight we both wanted Wilder to win," Barry said. "We thought it wouldn't be a good result for the heavyweight division if Ortiz was to win but we were also both very aware that Ortiz posed a lot of danger, particularly in the first three, four or five rounds.
"It was a very lacklustre first four and a half rounds that wasn't doing a lot to increase Wilder's stock, but he showed again why he has the most feared right hand in boxing – it's a great neutraliser, it cancels everything out – and when he landed in the fifth round he got an immediate reaction.
"Wilder answered a lot of questions in this fight. This was his biggest fight to date, the 40th in his career. There were a couple of times in previous fights when he was wobbled and people were questioning his chin because of his very skinny legs but he proved he could take a punch, he proved he could survive when he was hurt, he showed he can keep his power late in the fight and he showed he has a massive will to win.
"It's taken him 40 professional fights but this is his career defining fight. I said the same thing about Joshua when he beat Klitschko. I talked to Joe about it last night and I said it again this morning – 'this is what we need, we need a career defining fight'."
Barry said the Ortiz camp would be "absolutely distraught" at the inability of the 38-year-old to pull the trigger when he had Wilder in trouble.
But now it's all about the self-styled "baddest man on the planet", a man Barry and Parker get on well with and whom after his dramatic victory said Parker, 26, had a good chance against Joshua.
"It was encouraging to hear him say that," Barry said. "He's going to be in Cardiff and he wants to spend time with us in Cardiff, he wants to hang out with us.
"We're less than four weeks away now. We've got two more weeks of training here in Vegas and then we go to London.
"Everything's on point. Joe's working well, his body looks good, I think we're doing everything right and I expect Joe to be peaking on March 31."
