The big heavyweight fights keep on coming and this weekends attraction looks to be another great show. Anthony Joshua of England vs Joseph Parker of New Zealand, two undefeated prime heavyweights putting on another prime fight and continuing to reinvigorate the marquee division of boxing. Anthony Joshua is a bona fide established star in England, he attracts massive crowds, closes the show, and has made a habit of fighting good fighters which is something that is often lacking in boxing. All too often once a fighter gets some belts they go on a seemingly endless parade of defenses against people that you were not aware were boxers until they show up to the ring. Joseph Parker is definitely not in this class of fighter, Parker has earned his shot for the title by beating Hughie Fury, Andy Ruiz Jr., and Alexander Dimitrenko over the past few years. He has climbed the ladder and he belongs among this class of fighters in the heavyweight division. That being said I think he is taking this fight a little early he is still just 26 and while he has more fights then Joshua does (24 compared to 20) and more rounds professionally (123 compared to 65) I don't think he will be ready for a fight of this magnitude. Fights like this in front of a big, raucous home crowd under the bright lights can make a fighter hesitate and not perform up to his true potential. Joshua has been here before, he has seen the crowds, he has been rocked and knocked down only to come back and win in tough wars. So even with his relative lack of fight experience compared to Parker as a pro he is a very mature fighter for the amount of fights he has had. His last two fights saw him topple once long reigning heavy weight king pin Wladimir Klitschko and stop tough veteran Carlos Takam who also was beaten by Parker in a fight that went the distance.
I think that the best chance for Parker to win the fight is to get to Joshua early while he is cold and catch him by surprise. Try to get a knock down or at the very least get Joshua's respect by hurting him so he will be hesitant to throw punches. I see the fight being competitive early with Joshua pulling away after the 4th or 5th round and breaking Parker down to stop him in the 8th. I have nothing against Parker I think he is a good fighter I just see him being out of depth in this fight.
Alex's Pick- Joshua TKO 8
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