Joseph Parker during a training session with his trainer Kevin Barry ahead of the upcoming Carlos Takam fight. Photo / Getty
Joseph Parker during a training session with his trainer Kevin Barry ahead of the upcoming Carlos Takam fight. Photo / Getty
Here are all the facts and figures that you need to know heading into Joseph Parker's heavyweight bout against Carlos Takam tomorrow night.
The event is set to become the richest boxing event to ever take place in New Zealand, surpassing David Tua versus Shane Cameron in 2009 with apurse of over one million dollars.
A victory for Parker would guarantee him a world title shot, which would most likely be against current International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua of Britain.
Where is it taking place?
The event will be at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau, 10km from where he was brought up.
At the event, corporate doors will open at 6:00pm, with general admission doors opening at 7:30pm. The first professional bout will take place at 8:15pm, and the event will conclude at midnight.
Where can I watch it?
The event will be broadcast live through SKY Arena, and is pay-per-view. The event costs $49.99 and begins at 8pm.
The contenders
Joseph Parker
24-year-old Joseph Parker has won all 18 of his professional fights so far, 16 of which came by knockout.
His most recent fight was a win over American Jason Bergman, which took place on the 23rd of January in Apia, Samoa. Parker won in the eighth round by technical knock out.
Parker stands at 1.93m (6'4") tall, and last fought at 108kg.
Carlos Takam
Takam is a 35-year-old French-Cameroonian who boasts a record of 33 wins (25 by knockout) to go with just two losses and one draw, in a professional career now entering its eleventh year. Takam represented Cameroon in the 2004 Olympics.
Takam's most recent fight was a win over Brazilian George Arias in November last year. Takam won by unanimous decision. His most recent defeat came at the hands of Russian Alexander Povetkin in October 2014, where he was knocked out in the tenth round. Takam subsequently lost his WBC Silver heavyweight title after the fight.
Povetkin has recently been in trouble for a failed drug test, which Takam laughed off.
Takam is ranked one place higher than Parker by the IBF, with the boxers ranked third and fourth respectively.
Takam is slightly shorter than Parker at 1.89m (6'2") and last fought at a weight of 111kg.
What victory means
The winner of this fight will get a shot at the current IBF champion before January 16th 2017.
The title is currently held by Britain's Anthony Joshua, a gold medal winner at the 2012 London Olympics in the super heavyweight division.
Joshua took the title from American Charles Martin in April this year. Martin lost to Joshua by knock out in the second round, ending his title reign at just 85 days. This gave Martin a dubious place in the record books, now owner of the second shortest title reign in professional boxing history.
26-year-old Joshua currently boasts a 100% knock out ratio, winning all 16 of his professional fights by knockout.
He will make his first defense of the IBF world heavyweight title against undefeated 30-year-old American Dominic Breazeale on June 25th.
The undercard
The undercard will consist of four fights.
Samoan Alapati A'asa will take on Auckland's Daniel Tai, and Tai's brother Jordan will take on Joe Blackbourn of Wellington.
Christchurch's Bowyn Morgan will fight Australian Ben Kite.
David "Brown Buttabean" Letele will take on Aucklander Conrad Lam.
