Via Craig Daly: Joe Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) defeated former WBO Heavyweight Champion Joseph Parker (30-3, 21 KOs) until stopping him in the 11th round on Saturday night to claim the interim WBO title. at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
After the battle, Joyce called out the unified champion Oleksandr Usyk. Joyce feels that he will beat Usyk in 2023, or else he will be elevated to the new WBO champion.
Joyce landed a left hook on Parker’s head in round 11 that knocked him down. The match was then stopped by referee Steve Gray when Parker couldn’t get over the score. Overtime is at 1:03 on the 11th.
Parker, 30, showed a true warrior’s heart as his punishment from Joyce lasted until day 11 as he seemed bored at the midpoint of the fight, and it was clear he would eventually. Knocked down.
Joyce pricked Parker’s nose early in the competition in the fifth round, and then cut off his right eye in the ninth round.
Parker hit a lot of big hits despite his mental breakdown, but Joyce hit them without any problems. Whatever Parker would hit him, Joyce would return fire and attack him with shots to the body and head.
“It was an uphill battle, and I commend Joseph Parker. He is making progress and he rates me as a tough fight. I really like it. That’s the difficulty in that. I had to dig deep to get through the hoops. I really like it, though.
“I beat him with all I had. Kitchen sink, bags, everything and body shots. I have tried them all. But he kept moving forward, the game, and I managed to knock him down at the last minute. But it’s hard work.
“Usyk, I really feel. Let’s start,‘ Joyce said.
Once the two were at close range, Joyce kept working, pumping short body shots and not letting Parker rest. The constant pressure and punches from Joyce seemed to have eliminated Parker’s fight, as he couldn’t rest from the heavy bombardment.
Just like in his fight with Daniel Dubois, Joyce dealt a lot of damage with her powerful thrust, causing Parker’s face to soon open up. The stabs are almost like electric shocks, and you can tell that Parker doesn’t like it.
In hindsight, Parker made the mistake of coming to a career high of 255 lbs because he looked tired early in the game, and the extra weight he packed appeared to be main culprit for me.
For this type of stroke, Parker is better off getting as thin as possible as this will be an excellent cardio contest.
Parker’s prowess was decent throughout the teamfight, but he couldn’t match Joyce’s massive working speed, and he couldn’t get past most of his shots.
It was thought during the fight Parker would use motion to try to evade Joyce, but we didn’t see much of that tonight. The extra weight Parker put on this fight made things difficult for him to move the way he would.
