Joseph Parker 'too slow, doesn't have power' - boxing pundit

Joseph Parker, left, leans away from a right from Hughie Fury. Photo / AP

A boxing pundit says Joseph Parker has failed to show in his past three fights that he can compete with boxing's fellow heavyweight champions.

The Aucklander retained his WBO title with a majority decision victory over Hughie Fury in Manchester on Sunday. Two judges called a 18-10 victory while a third scored the bout a draw.

Who's next on Joseph Parker's list?
Parker is one of three world heavyweight champions in boxing at the moment with Britain's Anthony Joshua holding the IBF and WBA belts while American Deontay Wilder is the WBC champion. Tyson Fury was unified world champion following his 2015 victory over Wladimir Klitschko but had to relinquish the belts after failing a drugs test.

Parker extended his record to 24-0 following Sunday's win and could face Japan's Kyotaro Fujimoto or Brit Dillian Whyte later this year before eyeing the likes of Wilder next year.

Writing for nyfights.com, Kelsey McCarson says Parker's performance on Sunday, along with his last two victories, shows he doesn't have what it takes to follow Tyson Fury and become unified world champion with victories over Wilder and Joseph.

"What we do know is that if Parker is going to be the one to do it, he'll have to be a lot better than he has appeared over this last three fights," McCarson writes.

"In 36 rounds against H. Fury, Razvan Conjanu and Andy Ruiz, Parker has done exactly nothing to separate himself from the pack."

McCarson says Parker's feel are too slow and he doesn't have the power.

"If anything, he has displayed all the reasons he's not going to end up being a heavyweight worth remembering. He doesn't know how to land power punches. His feet are heavy and slow, and he can't cut off a ring to save his life.

"The Parker who defeated H. Fury isn't the type of fighter who should be paraded around the world as a champion. That fallacy is simply a byproduct of boxing's alphabet belt overload. It might be better just to reference the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board's heavyweight snapshot.

"Who is the real heavyweight champion? That's easy. There isn't one," McCarson says.