Parker will cause some troubles for Joshua

[IronFrost]

He is better than Takam or Whyte in every aspect. This will be hard competive 12 rounds fight

[jamamb]

aj will beat parker easily

parker arguably lost two of his last three. hes got quick hands but hes open defensively, he has little power at top level, hes much shorter, etc. and ppl knock aj for being rocked against whyte and wlad, but joe parker got rocked by a brazilian journeyman ffs

i still remember how confused and out of ideas joe looked against obese andy ruiz. hard for me to shake that when he also looked bad in his two subsequent fights.

[jamamb]

btw i 'only' rank parker 7th and i feel some guys i rank below him would have a very good shot of beating him. hes legit top ten but the belts whats gotten him so much attention.

[Bard of Boxrec]

The only question for me is when does aj take him out.

[Boxerbeetle]

The only question for me is when does aj take him out.

Same. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Joshua got him out early.

[Thomastearns]

The best thing for Parker would be to turn this into a long drawn out boxing match. He will be able to build his confidence as Joshua slows down.

I'd like to see AJ assert himself early and not allow Parker any chance to settle. Joshua has the power to gain anyone's respect and the sooner Parker realises what he's in with the better.

Fighting Anthony Joshua should be scary - you're looking for survival or else a quick execution. You can kid yourself all you want, but right now that's how it is. The torch has been passed from one great champion to another. The rest is just fine tuning.

[candyslim]

Nobody likes to see a runner refusing to engage and dancing away from exchanges. Judges penalize this kind of fighting and rightly so. I have no argument with Parker getting the decision yet if you look at it in it's purest sense that boxing is about hitting without being hit, and landing more scoring blows then Hughie Fury won that fight.

I also scored for Parker over both Takam and Ruiz but they were each close contests and a case could be made for the decision going the other way. At no point did Joe Parker look anywhere near to stopping any of these three opponents, and you can add Razvan Cojanu to that list.

Realistically how is he going to to make Joshua wary of his power, never mind knocking him out (unless you really believe Joshua has a glass chin, but I suspect none of those who do have actually boxed him)

I like Parker he's a good fighter but I don't see him giving Joshua much more than a good workout and I just hope his pride and resilience don't lead to him taking a sustained beating.

[tigermoth87]

A mid round KO for Joshua.

There are questions about Joshua's chin though, it's not glass but it's not iron either. He can be hurt and dropped.

[greg]

..I'd be surprised if Parker turns out to be competitive..if he does though, I'll have to reassess what I think of Joshua..

[DrDuke]

The only trouble for Joshua, which I see here, is critics for another unconvincing victory, if Joshua goes too long before he finally knocks Parker out. Anyway it's not a big trouble.

[Grailer]

wow you Joshua fanboys are not seeing reality!

Joshua is very beatable.

[DrDuke]

Joshua is very beatable.

He is, but not by Parker.

[Badhusker]

The only advantages I see that Parker has over AJ are stamina and chin, and those aren't necessarily bad on Joshua's part. Until Joshua gets KO'd or loses because of those two flaws, he is just fine. He has every other advantage, so he should win.

Will Parker taste the canvas for the first time in the amateurs and pros, including sparring? Very likely imo. If Parker is lucky enough to knock AJ down, hopefully he doesn't coast like Wlad did.

[BitPlayer]

I don't think Parker is defensively smart enough to challenge Joshua.

[funso banjo baby]

btw i 'only' rank parker 7th and i feel some guys i rank below him would have a very good shot of beating him. hes legit top ten but the belts whats gotten him so much attention.

I rank Parker higher than 7. but even 7 makes him probably the second or third best opponent AJ has faced.

Either way its a decent fight given that there was quite literally nothing else out there in the appalling rankings system of AJ's rubbish alphabet baubles.

whoever wins this is still firmly number 1 contender to Fury......with some room to spare

[KiwiRider]

I don't think Parker is defensively smart enough to challenge Joshua.

Yep
He is too easy to hit. AJ could land his jab all night and that is enough to break down anyone, even Parker's admirable chin will not be enough.
Parker was looking like a decent prospect when he fought Takem, since then he has not improved at all, if anything he has stagnated. Whilst AJ has been going up in levels every fight.
Remember when David Tua fought Lewis? I think this will pan out a bit similar.

[SenorPipino]

I've seen Parker in there with Takam, Ruiz and Fury.

All close. He could have lost all 3 decisions and no one would have complained except Parker.

He's really nothing more than an ordinary fighter with an alphabet belt.

Joshua should win as he pleases. Maybe he has a Khan-like chin, but Parker doesn't look capable of exposing it.

Oddsmakers don't see Parker as any type of threat. They've installed Joshua as a whopping 25-1 favorite.

Pretty one sided for a partial heavyweight unification matchup.

Is it because Joshua is viewed as some sort of monster ATG?

Or is it simply because Parker is a mediocrity and really brings little to the table?

I suspect it's the later.

[gilgamesh]

I don't expect he'll cause many problems. In fact I expect he'll get beaten in fairly lopsided fashion.

[candyslim]

wow you Joshua fanboys are not seeing reality!

Joshua is very beatable.

At 25-1 you should get your money on it pronto. I might be expecting a straightforward win for AJ but 25-1 on a two horse race is absurd. I'm repeating the odds quoted by Senor Pipino on here - I've made no attempt to verify that.

[Like a Boss]

I don't think Parker is defensively smart enough to challenge Joshua.

I think that is a reasonable call. But boxing is about giving the other guy more than he can take before he gives you more than you can take, and l believe Parker can take more than Joshua can, and that's what could make this a great fight.

[Kalan]

[Parker] is better than Takam or Whyte in every aspect. This will be hard competive 12 rounds fight

It won't be... Parker is going out... AJ is going to be loaded for bear in this fight.

Parker is better than Whyte, but Joshua has grown leaps and bounds since the Whyte fight... AJ dominated Whyte, easily winning 6 of 7 rounds... He scored a devastating KO... Whyte had a good 2nd round, but Joshua was fighting an unbeaten Heavyweight who had more fights than he did .... and he's not supposed to get hit a good shot???

Same way with the Wladimir Klitschko fight... I've never seen Waldimir engage that courageously against any opponent... He landed a lot of great punches and absorbed many also... The massive criticism he got from the Fury "sparring session" drove him in the Joshua fight.. He took big chances against a devastating hitter after taking zero chances against a good hitter. It almost won him the fight, but Joshua is a good thinker... He cleverly took a step back to take 2 more steps forward.

I had Takam beating Parker and driving him around the ring landing big right hands... I don't see how you give Parker the Takam and Ruiz fights... He got outscored with effective punching... This fight has a more neutral setting than Parker is used to. The fans are going to be cheering for Joshua instead screaming for Parker's ineffectual swings.

[SenorPipino]

wow you Joshua fanboys are not seeing reality!

Joshua is very beatable.

At 25-1 you should get your money on it pronto. I might be expecting a straightforward win for AJ but 25-1 on a two horse race is absurd. I'm repeating the odds quoted by Senor Pipino on here - I've made no attempt to verify that.

Both Oddschecker and Bet365 list Joshua as a 25-1 favorite. I have seen odds as low as 16-1.

An upcoming fight viewed by many as a mismatch, Garcia vs Rios, is also a 25-1 fight. So Joshua vs Parker is on par with that bout, according to bookmakers.

Next week's fight between Spence and Peterson is seen as competitive by comparison. Spence is only a 20-1 favorite.

[Heretic]

The problem Parker has here is this... AJ has the better physical package. He also has better boxing skills. So I don't see how Parker wins this one.

[ajwesty13]

It's been said more times than Khan has said "i'm in my prime" but the depth of the HW division is pretty poor and there's only a few fights that I really can feel excited about I'm sorry but this isn't one of them...

Comments have already mentioned what parkers lacks for this division I think it will be another Glazgov being found out with his limitations...

[Badhusker]

[Parker] is better than Takam or Whyte in every aspect. This will be hard competive 12 rounds fight

It won't be... Parker is going out... AJ is going to be loaded for bear in this fight.

Parker is better than Whyte, but Joshua has grown leaps and bounds since the Whyte fight... AJ dominated Whyte, easily winning 6 of 7 rounds... He scored a devastating KO... Whyte had a good 2nd round, but Joshua was fighting an unbeaten Heavyweight who had more fights than he did .... and he's not supposed to get hit a good shot???

Same way with the Wladimir Klitschko fight... I've never seen Waldimir engage that courageously against any opponent... He landed a lot of great punches and absorbed many also... The massive criticism he got from the Fury "sparring session" drove him in the Joshua fight.. He took big chances against a devastating hitter after taking zero chances against a good hitter. It almost won him the fight, but Joshua is a good thinker... He cleverly took a step back to take 2 more steps forward.

I had Takam beating Parker and driving him around the ring landing big right hands... I don't see how you give Parker the Takam and Ruiz fights... He got outscored with effective punching... This fight has a more neutral setting than Parker is used to. The fans are going to be cheering for Joshua instead screaming for Parker's ineffectual swings.

What many, including yourself forget to realize is that the only reason AJ won the fight vs the 41 year old Wlad is because of a tactical error on behalf of Wlad. He had AJ out on his feet for at least 2 rounds. Lets not forget that fact.