Joseph Parker vs. Junior Fa - February 27, 2021

[goose 5]

I had it 8-4 Parker.

[KiwiRider]

Results

• Hemi Ahio KO-7 Julius Long (2:55)
• David Nyika TKO-1 Jesse Maio (0:29)
• Nik Charalampous D-6 Panuve Helu (56-58, 57-57, 58-56)
• Jerome Pampellone KO-1 Antz Amouta (2:57)

The Ahio/Long fight was quite entertaining.

Julius wasn't just there for the payday, that's for sure.

He made Ahio really work for the victory.

I think Long's corner let him down though.

You could see Long flagging for a good while before he was flattened: His corner should have thrown in the towel well before Julius got flattened.

Hemi Ahio has been on my watch list for a while. I'm glad this fight coverage gave the international boxing fans a chance to see him in action.
I do hope he gets the opportunity to travel to the UK and fight some of the up and coming guys over there.

[margaret thatcher]

parker despite being fast handed seems to not be a very accurate puncher, he had trouble landing clean againn

[oogiebe]

parker despite being fast handed seems to not be a very accurate puncher, he had trouble landing clean againn

If I was Hrg, I'd want to fight him after this performance.

[hhaehre]

Horrible fight. I think Parker should pack it in, he almost looks like a shot fighter that's unable to throw combinations. Gets off a single telegraphed punch and falls into his opponent, rinse and repeat. Not much power left either.

[gregregegg]

Horrible fight. I think Parker should pack it in, he almost looks like a shot fighter that's unable to throw combinations. Gets off a single telegraphed punch and falls into his opponent, rinse and repeat. Not much power left either.

One bad fight against Fa who made it very awkward. Parker looked bad, true, but Fa made that a gross fight and can be crafty enough. Also Parker wont of had any quality sparing in a year id say, so that dosent help. He is still by far the most acomplished heavyweight under 30, and Id still have him top 10ish. definatly top 15.

[margaret thatcher]

i mean he won and still is in a position to get a bigger fight, at 29 and with some good money to be made he shouldnt retire yet

[margaret thatcher]

parker despite being fast handed seems to not be a very accurate puncher, he had trouble landing clean againn

If I was Hrg, I'd want to fight him after this performance.

ya that would be a good one

[hhaehre]

Horrible fight. I think Parker should pack it in, he almost looks like a shot fighter that's unable to throw combinations. Gets off a single telegraphed punch and falls into his opponent, rinse and repeat. Not much power left either.

One bad fight against Fa who made it very awkward. Parker looked bad, true, but Fa made that a gross fight and can be crafty enough. Also Parker wont of had any quality sparing in a year id say, so that dosent help. He is still by far the most acomplished heavyweight under 30, and Id still have him top 10ish. definatly top 15.

It's more than one bad fight. He's obviously still capable, but when was the last time he got off a lot of punches and threw combinations? He fights like old Holeyfield now.

[KiwiRider]

Horrible fight. I think Parker should pack it in, he almost looks like a shot fighter that's unable to throw combinations. Gets off a single telegraphed punch and falls into his opponent, rinse and repeat. Not much power left either.

One bad fight against Fa who made it very awkward. Parker looked bad, true, but Fa made that a gross fight and can be crafty enough. Also Parker wont of had any quality sparing in a year id say, so that dosent help. He is still by far the most acomplished heavyweight under 30, and Id still have him top 10ish. definatly top 15.

It's more than one bad fight. He's obviously still capable, but when was the last time he got off a lot of punches and threw combinations? He fights like old Holeyfield now.

Vs a very motivated Andy Ruiz was the last time I saw him consistently letting his hands go, and maybe the final round Vs Whyte

[margaret thatcher]

remember he looked blah vs cojanu too, who is defo worse than fa

i dont think he's really changed much for better or worse tbh

he's got some of the quickest hands in the division,, but his shots lack accuracy and his feet are often too stiff for him to get in range quick enough to land flush, so he falls short a lot. he can look really good vs certain type of opponents, but blows hot and cold as well , and vs top 10-20 opponents is only able to squeak by


but i mean he's only 29 , won all his fights since his losses, and he just clearly though unconvingingly beat an unbeaten fringe contender, without taking any notable damage, so he defo shouldnt retire. he's still hovering around the top 10 and got bigger fight opportunities.

[candyslim]

I just watched the fight. I didn't score it but Parker was the aggressor and made the fight. He deserved the decision but clearly hasn't enhanced his reputation. Has he declined? I don't think so. He looked very poor against Razvan Cojanu, maybe he just struggles with opponents who are familiar with the way he boxes.

I was quite pleased when Fa turned pro. I thought he'd be a good addition given his won two lost two record against Parker as an amateur. I've been deeply disappointed each time I've watched him as a pro, I had about written him off as a good amateur who couldn't make the transition to the pro game.

In this fight I was impressed with him. He showed a good jab, caught Parker with some good shots, and made like an octopus when Joe got close. He also coped really well with the cut. I think Fa approached the fight as a renewal of an old rivalry rather than a fight against a top ten fighter in the world.

It wasn't a great fight but it was interesting or at least it would have been if wasn't aware of the result and had read all your comments previously.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Junior Fa: I Exposed Joseph Parker, I Exposed A lot of Weaknesses

Heavyweight contender Junior Fa believes that he exposed former WBO world champion Joseph Parker in their long-awaited showdown, which took place on Saturday night at Auckland’s Spark Arena.

Parker was a very big favorite to win the fight, but the contest had a lot of close rounds and there were many who felt the contest was a lot tighter than the scorecards indicated.

The judges saw it 119-109, 115-113 and 117-111 - with all three cards being tallied in the direction of Parker.

Far had no argument with the verdict. He felt the contest showcased his skills, with many observers making pre-fight predictions that Parker would win by knockout.

“I’ve made myself known to the world, I’ve exposed Joseph Parker,” Fa told Stuff. “I exposed a lot of his weaknesses. I felt I was the better boxer, but he played the game better.”

Parker, who planned to bag a statement making victory with a knockout, admits the fight was close than he anticipated. He felt the ring-rust, with being away from the ring for a year, played a role in the outcome.

“It was a great night. They came here to fight and it was a lot closer than expected. Fa put on a great performance and we have to go back and work on a lot of things," Parker said.

“It just showed the ring-rust you can end up with after a year out.”

It appears Parker is now heading in the direction of a fight in the UK with dangerous contender Derek Chisora.

“I love the UK. I love the media, the respect, so welcoming to our team. We have gained a lot of friends and supporters there," Parker said.

[Fightnight Scores]

Fa seemed a bit too happy at the end of the bout for my liking given that he'd lost.

[candyslim]

I know what you mean but when you consider how poor he looked beating people like Daniel Tai, Hunter Sam, Dominick Guinn, and how few gave him any chance in this fight, how vindicated must he have felt giving problems to a guy who most would regard as a legitimate top ten heavyweight, being still standing and very much in the fight at the final bell.

This loss has done more for his reputation than his two most emphatic wins (Fred Latham Jnr and Newfel Ouatah) in fact when you think what a boost to his career Otto Wallin got from his losing performance against Tyson Fury it begs the question "What effect does his creditable showing against Parker have on Junior Fa's ranking?" I would argue it propels him into the world top 30. I can see why he would be feeling self-satisfied.

[HeavyHitters]

I watched most of the replay of the fight. It looked very close to me. Too much hugging and holding for my liking. Will todays heavyweights learn to actually fight at some point?!? They seem so hell-bent on doing anything they can to not get hit. If you don't like getting hit in boxing, maybe you shouldn't be in boxing. Learn to move around, and learn a good defense, learn how to fight on the inside, instead of being a coward and hugging your opponent every time he gets close to you. If you want to see how heavyweights should do it, watch the first Bowe-Holyfield fight. Mostly all action, hardly any holding and hugging.

But anyways, I thought the fight was close. Parker looked emaciated, no power in his punches. He might have barely eked out a win, but I had it very close. Could also have been a draw.

[Thomastearns]

"But anyways, I thought the fight was close. Parker looked emaciated, no power in his punches. He might have barely eked out a win, but I had it very close. Could also have been a draw."



If Joseph Parker has a clear weakness, it is a distinct lack of power delivery. At least for a big man like him.

In his battle against Whyte he just needed one good shot and it would have been over, but he didn't have it.

Emmanuel Steward always believed he taught Tommy Hearns how to effectively use leverage, and Hearns subsequent results certainly seemed to beat that out.

Maybe a different trainer could get him to use
his obvious strength a little more effectively, but it's difficult to suggest who.

Not sure where Joe can go from here, but it should be interesting to find out

[Enlightened-One]

Most of us believed that Joseph Parker would score a straightforward victory over the unrated Junior Fa.

Beating Junior Fa never would have enhanced Parker's career/reputation in any way, other than receiving a decent payday for engaging in a relatively uninspiring stay-busy domestic bust-up.

After all, Joseph Parker is accustomed with operating at world-level, which meant that the fight against Junior Fa was a backward step for him.

To be honest, I’m going to give Joseph Parker a free pass on this occasion, simply because it was far too easy to predict his fight against Fa being an ugly to watch lacklustre affair.

It’s heavily rumoured that Parker will be facing Chisora next, with both men beaten by Dillian Whyte in 2018.

Joe needs to raise his game (to levels we haven’t witnessed for 2½ years) to avoid suffering an upset loss to Chisora, because based on recent form (the proverbial eyeball test), ‘Del Boy’ has looked more impressive since losing to Whyte than Parker has.

The prime iteration of Joseph Parker beats the best version of Dereck Chisora.

However, the Brit who was defeated by Usyk beats the Kiwi who beat Fa, if you know what I mean.

[margaret thatcher]

joe vs del seems pretty evenly matched right now doesnt it

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

You hit the nail on accuracy of parker that us a major issue for him

Chisora is fairly open and straight forward though parker should look good against him

[nmhz]

Another case of big promises and not delivering for Parker. Nothing against Kevin Barry but he could use new direction.

Chisora will be interesting. I could see Delboy giving Parker problems, even dropping him, before Parker taking a points victory