Joshua beats Parker and Unifies the heavyweight titles

Well I was half right in my pick for this fight, Joshua won, albeit not by KO as I had predicted. For the first time as a professional Anthony Joshua went the full 12 round championship distance and saw his knock out streak halted at 20. Joseph Parker suffered his first loss as a professional but he now holds the distinction of being the only man to survive the distance with Joshua so far. The fight played out as more of a chess match then I thought it would be especially in the first half. Parker moved around the ring on his back foot and kept Joshua from mounting anything of a meaningful offense by utilizing a quick and accurate jab that interrupted Joshua whenever he tried to establish a rhythm. The action picked up in the 2nd half as both fighters let their hands go a bit more but it never really got going into a war. Part of this was based on both fighters being conservative in the chances that they took and part of it was due to the referee being increasingly involved with the fight for no reason. This ref did not let them fight on the inside at all even when they each had a hand free or were working their way out. It was bizarre how fast he got involved every time they got with in clinching distance. So with all of those ingredients it made for a very flat fight and one that was difficult to score. I thought a fair score would have been 7-5 to Joshua I thought he did more effective work in the 2nd half of the fight and was able to win it by taking over the last 6 rounds but man was it tough to score. There were just so few exchanges in this fight that had any real meaning it was a battle of jabs. I would say that Parker despite being a smaller heavyweight may have the best jab in the division right now especially as a counter shot. He really made it a difficult fight for AJ and was able to dictate the pace of the fight for most of the night.

Joshua now holds all but the WBC belt that is held by Wilder and he expressed his desire to be the undisputed champion of the division in the near future. Wilder for his part also seems like he wants this fight and with some luck we could possibly see it later this year. A fight of that magnitude would be a huge push for boxing's popularity and relevance which has been increasing steadily over the last few years. The heavyweight title has always been once of the most prestigious awards in the sporting world and either Wilder or Joshua would be an excellent representative of the sport as the undisputed heavyweight champion. We will see what the future holds for now we have more fights to look forward to this coming weekend so check back to the blog for our upcoming picks!