Joseph Parker is set to challenge Anthony Joshua on November 26

[Ruthless-RKO]

Eddie Hearn has revealed that Anthony Joshua is 'unlikely' to face Hughie Fury as the IBF champion is instead set to defend his title against Joseph Parker.

Joshua will make the second defence of his IBF title on November 26, and his promoter Hearn has been considering a list of possible foes for the unbeaten 26-year-old ahead of an announcement at the end of next week.

Trainer Peter Fury suggested earlier this week that his son had been offered a shot at the IBF belt, but Hearn has been unable to agree terms and mandatory challenger Parker is now the front-runner to face Joshua, if he successfully comes through his fight with Alexander Dimitrenko on October 1.

Is this clever? Parker has been fighting a lot recently anyway, but 50+ days after his next fight, to challenge for the World title? would he want more time?

"Joseph Parker is there and the plan was to build the Parker fight over here. I think that's a huge fight, but as time goes on, Joseph Parker looks like he will be the man.

"Obviously he's fighting Dimitrenko next Saturday. All being well, I think Joseph Parker will be the guy for November 26.

"We've got a few things to tie up, but their team are relatively easy to work with. We don't have a deal in place, but we have the basis of a deal in place that I think can work for everybody.".

[crusader]

Id be up for it, although reading that it seems like it's still simply being discussed as a possibility.

King Humble should win by KO

[lillywhite14]

Parker and his team seem to have a bit of an old school approach. Good to see.
Years ago people wouldn't bat an eyelid at such a schedule. Parker is a fit young fighter. Dimitrenko won't cause him any harm at all and is decent prep for Joshua anyway, certainly from a size point of view.

[Badhusker]

Unlikely, but would like to see it. Why not wait til it is a real possibility instead of starting a thread making it sound like it's been made. Parker fights in October.

[Like a Boss]

As much as I'm sure Hearn would like to see Dimitrenko do Parker some physical and psychological damage, I sure hope, for the sake of a great Parker vs Joshua, that won't be the case.

[Klee Gluckman]

Joseph might as well take the chance while its on the table. It might be a bit soon but you never know in boxing how long you will have to wait. The heavyweight championship hasn't been defended for 10 months, and no guarantee it will be defended this year. If Joseph passes this up he may have to wait. Tua had to wait 24 months for his title shot when he became the no 1 contender.

Tua had to wait because of the Holyfield Lewis controversy, then Lewis choose to defend against another sanctioning body contender and a voluntary defence against Botha.

Barry spent these two years feeding Tua Cannon Fodder to get his confidence up. I don't want to see those mistakes with Parker.

If opportunity knocks, take it.

[Enlightened-One]

In my mind, Joseph Parker is the best opponent that Anthony Joshua has ever faced and should be considered as a logical step up in class.

If Joshua manages to dispose of the challenge posed by the New Zealander in dominant quick fashion, then the bodybuilding Brit should almost certainly be considered as the real deal.

[BitPlayer]

In my mind, Joseph Parker is the best opponent that Anthony Joshua has ever faced and should be considered as a logical step up in class.

If Joshua manages to dispose of the challenge posed by the New Zealander in dominant quick fashion, then the bodybuilding Brit should almost certainly be considered as the real deal.

Not sure what you mean by real deal/

A legit top heavyweight? Probably. Not enough to make him No.1 though

[Enlightened-One]

In my mind, Joseph Parker is the best opponent that Anthony Joshua has ever faced and should be considered as a logical step up in class.

If Joshua manages to dispose of the challenge posed by the New Zealander in dominant quick fashion, then the bodybuilding Brit should almost certainly be considered as the real deal.

Not sure what you mean by real deal/

A legit top heavyweight? Probably. Not enough to make him No.1 though

In my opinion, the likes of Fury, Klitschko, Povetkin, Wilder, Ortiz and perhaps even Pulev, all have a legitimate argument for claiming themselves to be as good as-or-if-not better than Anthony Joshua.

If AJ scored an impressive, dominant quick victory over Joseph Parker, then this would go a long way to proving his doubters wrong, resulting in him being elevated to being widely regarded as one of the top three ranked heavyweights.

[Like a Boss]

It looks like the waiting game will continue for Joseph Parker with Eddie Hearn now saying fight details will be announced "this week."

With Hearn looking to make Joshua vs Klitschko, Parker might yet find himself on the undercard fighting David Price.

It all seems to hinge on whether Tyson Fury is stripped of his titles, and if he is, if it happens in time to get Joshua vs Klitschko made.

Meanwhile Price is also listed on the October 1st Cleverly vs Braehmer undercard.

[Enlightened-One]

It looks like the waiting game will continue for Joseph Parker with Eddie Hearn now saying fight details will be announced "this week."

With Hearn looking to make Joshua vs Klitschko, Parker might yet find himself on the undercard fighting David Price.

It all seems to hinge on whether Tyson Fury is stripped of his titles, and if he is, if it happens in time to get Joshua vs Klitschko made.

Meanwhile Price is also listed on the October 1st Cleverly vs Braehmer undercard.

Doesn't AJ have an imposed deadline to fight Joseph Parker by the 9th January, or have the IBF subsequently decided to extend their deadline? I haven't been following events... and I can't see a situation whereby the Brit engages in another contest only six weeks after his current 26th November fight date.

[Rob3_142]

It looks like the waiting game will continue for Joseph Parker with Eddie Hearn now saying fight details will be announced "this week."

With Hearn looking to make Joshua vs Klitschko, Parker might yet find himself on the undercard fighting David Price.

It all seems to hinge on whether Tyson Fury is stripped of his titles, and if he is, if it happens in time to get Joshua vs Klitschko made.

Meanwhile Price is also listed on the October 1st Cleverly vs Braehmer undercard.

Doesn't AJ have an imposed deadline to fight Joseph Parker by the 9th January, or have the IBF subsequently decided to extend their deadline? I haven't been following events... and I can't see a situation whereby the Brit engages in another contest only six weeks after his current 26th November fight date.

I thought that too, but I suspected that was the deadline to agree a bout, otherwise it would go to a purse bid. But sounds like it would be a no brainer to have the fight in the 02 in March 2017.

[Like a Boss]

It looks like the waiting game will continue for Joseph Parker with Eddie Hearn now saying fight details will be announced "this week."

With Hearn looking to make Joshua vs Klitschko, Parker might yet find himself on the undercard fighting David Price.

It all seems to hinge on whether Tyson Fury is stripped of his titles, and if he is, if it happens in time to get Joshua vs Klitschko made.

Meanwhile Price is also listed on the October 1st Cleverly vs Braehmer undercard.

Doesn't AJ have an imposed deadline to fight Joseph Parker by the 9th January...

That is my understanding.

[Tanzio]

Get this fight made and have Ortiz step in for Fury, then have the winners and losers meet. I know, I know . . . but there's nothing wrong with dreaming.

[Heretic]

Parker is high risk low reward. Too unknown. I will be surprised if this fight happens.

Parker will need to get couple of known names on his list before the shot at one of the paper titles.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Parker is high risk low reward. Too unknown. I will be surprised if this fight happens.

Parker will need to get couple of known names on his list before the shot at one of the paper titles.

Takam is more known than anyone AJ has fought. Dmitrenko is also a decent name in the division. They might not be household names, but definately more risky opponents. I rate Parker for that, he knows he's mandatory yet takes on opponents that could potentially upset him.

[Like a Boss]

Parker is high risk low reward. Too unknown. I will be surprised if this fight happens.

Parker will need to get couple of known names on his list before the shot at one of the paper titles.

You claim Parker is high risk now. Once he 'gets a couple of known names under his belt' he will only be higher risk.

The good thing is Parker is Joshua's mandatory and the way things stand will either meet him on November 26th, or early next year.

[BitPlayer]

Parker is high risk low reward. Too unknown. I will be surprised if this fight happens.

Parker will need to get couple of known names on his list before the shot at one of the paper titles.

You claim Parker is high risk now. Once he 'gets a couple of known names under his belt' he will only be higher risk.

The good thing is Parker is Joshua's mandatory and the way things stand will either meet him on November 26th, or early next year.

Yeah but the higher reward would make beating him more worth the risk.

However Joshua has manditory obligations to furfill.

[lefty]

Parker is high risk low reward. Too unknown. I will be surprised if this fight happens.

Parker will need to get couple of known names on his list before the shot at one of the paper titles.

Joshua smashes him (Hi crusader )

[lefty]

There's talk of parkers team dodging Joshua to fight some inferior opponent for the WBO strap that Fury is inevitably going to be stripped off. That fornicating sucks. That's not a dig at Parker either. Whilst I don't hugely rate him, I do believe he's willing to pretty much fight any heavyweight out there. His tram however, I'm not so sure.

[Like a Boss]

There's talk of parkers team dodging Joshua to fight some inferior opponent for the WBO strap that Fury is inevitably going to be stripped off. That effing sucks. That's not a dig at Parker either. Whilst I don't hugely rate him, I do believe he's willing to pretty much fight any heavyweight out there. His tram however, I'm not so sure.

Parker's team (Duco) are keeping their options open. Same as Hearn is keeping Joshua's options open.

It is a waiting and posturing game until Hearn announces who Joshua is fighting on November 26th.

There aren't many trams in NZ mate.

[Grailer]

Klitchko is probably fighting Joshua Nov 26

It makes more sense , alot more money to be made.

Once Parker beats Ruiz for WBO belt in December both Joshua and Parker can duck each other for years and have a mega fight for billions when they are well past their prime

[lefty]

Klitchko is probably fighting Joshua Nov 26

It makes more sense , alot more money to be made.

Once Parker beats Ruiz for WBO belt in December both Joshua and Parker can duck each other for years and have a mega fight for billions when they are well past their prime

[Like a Boss]

Klitchko is probably fighting Joshua Nov 26

It makes more sense , alot more money to be made.

Once Parker beats Ruiz for WBO belt in December both Joshua and Parker can duck each other for years and have a mega fight for billions when they are well past their prime

Nov 26th is less than 2 months away. Not sure a fight as big and significant as Wlad vs Joshua can be organised in that short timeframe. Plus there's the issues surrounding the belts held by Fury and how quickly they might be able to be made vacant.

[Like a Boss]

And yet more posturing. This time from the Parker camp :

Wladimir Klitschko in mix for Joseph Parker

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=11719280

Wladimir Klitschko has been contacted by Joseph Parker's promoters as they continue to scout for opponents in the wake of the Tyson Fury fall-out.

Duco are in negotiations with Anthony Joshua's camp about fighting in Manchester on November 26, but have widened the net to include a possible world title fight against Andy Ruiz Junior in Auckland this summer, and promoter Dean Lonergan said today that an encouraging contact had been made with Klitschko too.

"It's our job to make sure we have options in front of us," Lonergan said on the day the news of a possible fight with Ruiz for the WBO title broke. "If we're going down one path, we might get into into a position we don't necessarily like for whatever reason.

"Now we have two paths, and maybe even three because I've also put an email into Wladimir Klitschko to see if he's interested in fighting us. Let's just wait and see. A fight like that would be held in Germany. Bernd Boente his manager came back and said 'yes, we're interested, what sort of deal structure would you look at?'.

"The only person with any pressure on him is Eddie Hearn because he's got the date set down for November 26, it's hard to get venues and the clock is ticking."