Martin Devlin: Just a win not good enough for Joseph Parker

Joseph Parker needs to win this fight against Dillion Whyte. And not just win but win it well.

He needs to be decisive, aggressive, impressive. Because everything we know about Whyte is that he will fight. This guy is not a pugilist, hes a puncher.

He likes to whack and isn't afraid of getting a smack back. Jump on YouTube, those seven rounds of Whyte vs Anthony Joshua will tell you everything you need to know about the menace that awaits our man Joseph on Sunday morning NZT.

Whyte doesn't tap dance. He doesn't jab and lean, he doesn't hold, he doesn't look too score points, his style would be best described as brawler.

Imagine the bad guy in any of the Rocky movies and that's who Parker's opponent is. A big bad bruiser who wants to knock you out. And that's also the only way he knows how.

So when Joseph starts talking Bad Intentions, starts saying the stuff like "I'm here to do damage, I'm going to give it real bad" he's going to have to bring all of that and also know that to give some he's gonna get some.

If you like heavyweight boxing where two blokes go toe to toe til one of them, frops then this should be your perfect bout.

Both men have had just the one loss, both to Anthony Joshua. And that's where the similarity starts and stops. These were two totally different fights, Joseph cautious, cagey, lost by unanimous points decision. Whyte ferocious, forever going forward, rocked Joshua before being put down in the seventh.

Parker has reached a career crossroads. If he wants another shot at the title then he simply must win.

And not just beat the very dangerous Whyte, but beat him in a fight.