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Joseph Parker defends his WBO Heavyweight title against mandatory challenger Hughie Fury at the Manchester Arena in England on September 23rd, 2017.
Battle of Unbeaten Heavyweights
This is a battle between two young, up and coming unbeaten heavyweights. Parker boasts a record of 23-0 with 18 KOs while Fury is 20-0 with 10 KOs. These two were first booked to fight last April but the fight was moved to May after Fury was reluctant to travel to New Zealand. The May affair bombed out after Fury pulled out with a back injury.
Finally, the two agreed on a September date in England, with Parker making the second defense of the WBO title he won against Andy Ruiz in December of 2016. Fury will be fighting in a world title bout for the first time in his career and he surely is glad it will be in England and not in Auckland.
A 50-50 Fight?
The champion Joseph Parker is the favorite here at – 125 while the challenger Fury is close by at -105 at Bovada. A lot of people (including British heavyweight David Haye) believe this is a 50-50 fight, but we disagree. Parker is the much better boxer between these two gentlemen and he is more battle tested, having faced better opposition.
The Kiwi has passed all tests thrown in front of him and he’s done so with flying colors. He isn’t hard to counter, that’s a weakness, but considering he withstood heavy hitters like Andy Ruiz Jr. and Carlos Takam proves that he has a solid chin.
On the other hand, Hughie Fury will be fighting only for the third time since 2013 and the first time this year. He hasn’t really faced world class competition before so this is definitely his biggest test to date. The big question for Fury is whether his chin will hold up against world level quality. If he does, this could be the 50-50 fight that some are calling it.
Parker’s consistency
But even then, surviving Joseph Parker’s power is one thing, but beating him is another. Parker has fought consistently, taking at least three bouts every year. His level of competition has grown with each fight and he’s beaten every man put in front of him. In fact, Parker has knocked out 9 of his last 11 opponents.
Parker has fought mostly in New Zealand and this will be his first bout in England. Fury will have the crowd behind him but he’ll need more than crowd support to unseat the champion. Overall, Parker’s just better. He’s going to remain undefeated and keep his belt. We’re picking Joseph Parker to win this fight.
