What Does The Future Hold For Joseph Parker?

On Saturday night Whyte V Parker gave us a great fight, with Whyte winning a unanimous decision and taking one step closer to a world title shot. With two back to back defeats what does the future hold for Joseph Parker?

Late on Saturday after a packed night of boxing the O2 was rocking as the opening bell rang for the main event. Joseph Parker started the fight well controlling the fight at distance with his jab and he was beating Whyte to the punch. Then in the 2nd round Whyte came out and started to walk Parker down more and more then he got lucky scoring a dubious knock down as it was a clash of heads that put Parker down not a punch. However that knock down seemed to change the course of the whole fight because after that Parker didn’t want to get up close and engage with Whyte, he kept backing up and Whyte was just able to pick him off. By round 7 Parker just looked disinterested and like he didn’t want to be there. At times in the fight he looked scared to get hit because when ever Whyte looked to connect with a shot he was closing his eyes so no wonder he was getting hit because he couldn’t see the shots coming. After been put down again in the 9th both of them looked liked they’d got nothing left, but instead of letting his hands go to try and get the stoppage he still just kept backing up. Even when he did have Whyte hurt he still didn’t move in for the kill. Going into the final round his corner did read him the riot act and just like in the Joshua fight he started to let his hands go sending Whyte to the canvas but it was too little too late as Whyte survived the final 20 seconds to put the fight in the hands of the judges. They scored the fight all to Whyte 112-113, 115-110 and 114-111, here’s how I scored the fight:

In their post fight interview both men were very respectful Whyte was gracious in victory and Parker knew he been beaten by the better man here’s what they both had to say:

I started this post by asking what does the future hold for Joseph Parker. So here are just a few options:

• Retire: No I haven’t lost the plot I know he’s only 26 and two losses shouldn’t be the end of his career, but I just wonder how much he’s got left in the tank and whether he actually wants to carry on. As in his last three fights when things started to get tough in there he looked like he didn’t want to know. He’s made his money so maybe he just wants the comfy life in New Zealand because there he’s a sporting god.

• Make a comeback: A comeback certainly is not out of the question but he has to want it. There are a number of routes he could take, but if he wants to get back into the world title mix as quickly as possible this is how I would do it. Take a couple of smaller fights in New Zealand to get his confidence back, then take on a fighter ranked in the top 10 and before you know it he will be back in the mix for a world title.

• Change trainer: This may seem like a strange suggestion because he seems to have a very good relationship with Kevin Barry, and of course we only see them in the corner on fight night. However in both the Joshua fight and on Saturday it didn’t look like he was listening and the whole corner just sounded to friendly. There’s no question that Kevin Barry is a world class trainer but if he is going to comeback a new voice in the gym and in the corner could be a good move.

These are just my thoughts and I’m sure we will find out what he’s going to do in the coming weeks and months. I love to hear what you guys think so please comment below and let me know what you think Joseph Parker should do next.