Amazing scenes at the Joshua - Parker weigh in. A nice rich cultural affair, probably the most entertaining weigh in I've seen. Wonderful. As for the fighters, both seem to be intent on chasing serious speed. Joshua at 242lbs has come in almost a stone lighter than his last bout, while Parker has shed 9lbs since his last fight. It was really nice to see some warmth between the two men at the finish. Great weigh in.
Can't wait for tomorrow as am going to watch the fight at the Principality Stadium. Looking forward to a good fight. If it's half as good as Joshua v Klitschko or Joshua v Takam I will be happy.
17st 4lb is probably 4-5lb less than I expected- I hope AJ hasn’t over done the trim down! Hopefully he adds some real skill to the speed to get in and out and win some rounds off the jab, as this will really stand him in better stead. Both fighters in terrific shape and both seek prepared to let their ability do the talking on the night. A long overdue unification (of sorts) in the heavyweight division
AJ has an enormous reach and height advantage. He should be able to frustrate Parker, keeping him at bay and pick off Parker on his way in. I think this will be a struggle for Parker and will be very disappointed if AJ can't win this convincingly, otherwise he will have no chance against Wilder. AJ within 6
I think it might take Joshua a few more rounds to win this fight assuming Parker can handle the occasion in front of a massive crowd. Joshua has a 100% knockout record but Parker is not to be taken lightly and Joshua might play the early rounds very cautiously. It might take some time to get on top. I have bet Joshua to to win in rounds 7-9 or rounds 10-12. I don't expect the fight to go the distance. Can't wait to be in Cardiff later and there is a pretty decent undercard too.
Correct result, cards a little harsh on Parker, personally I had AJ 5 rounds up. But the referee ruined the fight for me just didn't let the fight. And I've seen nothing new tonight to change my mind, I still think Wilder beats Joshua.
I couldn't agree more about wilder beating him.. AJ is a too up and down with little movement. I'm actually bitterly disappointed with him as I had high hopes he may be the next Iron Mike. But sadly he lacks that explosiveness, X factor and charisma .
Pretty disappointed with AJ tonight but I guess the plus point is he got the job done. God, please come back Tyson Fury, you’d absolutely embarrass AJ, he’s nowhere near the fighter Hearn makes him out to be... Don't think Wilder will lose much sleep this evening either but he’s questionable too. Neither lay a glove on Fury for my money. Wouldn’t liked to have had my pants down and paid to see that joke of a card. You know it’s bad when Price getting laid out is the best fight on the night.
Big disappointment. Parker is definitely not World Class and AJ unable land a decent punch. Waste of money paying for the box office. Ref interfered too much. It almost looked like a fix
I don't think Joshua put in that bad of a performance. It seem to me that the team led by Rob McCracken put in a very solid effort. I don't think they planned for a smash and grab type of fight, it was more about taking as few chances as possible. All night Joshua worked off that ram rod jab and it worked to perfection. That extra speed and stamina he brought into the ring took Parker right out of the game. The Fury's were brilliant when they out thought the Klitschko clan, and so too was McCracken' thinking. He gave AJ the perfect fight plan, and the fighter followed it to perfection. He didn't get sucked into anything ugly. I think it was a nice professional win. By the sound of things, I'm glad I got the American coverage. From what I've been reading, the Sky team were quite fan boyish.
Comparing AJ to the other champs like Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Holmes, Tyson, Bowe, Holyfield, Lewis, he is after all a unified champ, but he would only be a sparring partner for these guys. 22 or 23 fights in and he is not really at a high level, Wilder i think will beat him though Wilder does leave himself awfully wide open at times to be caught. AJ must thank his lucky stars Wlad was 41 when they fought. Those 2 last night very very average.
I was watching the Showtime coverage but had to switch to the sky broadcast I just couldn't do with all of the analogies and puns one of the yanks was spouting every 3 seconds. Shame too coz Maliniaggi was is oppo and I like Paulie, he's always fair, unbiased and honest in his assessment.
Regardless of my personal opinion of Tyson Fury I still don't think he beats Joshua or Wilder. He doesn't have that knock out punch and he won't outbox either. He befuddled Klitschko with his awkwardness but Klitschko also didn't throw any big shots his way. Both Joshua and Wilder will and Fury goes down easier than Jenna Jameson. I do like Wilder and do think he's charismatic but Joshua is about as charismatic as a block of wood. That's why Fury needs to come back, he will have a field day in the build up to some of these big fights. I'm still not convinced he'll make it back in the ring and if he does I'd worry about the very long absence. It doesn't matter who you are or how good you are 3 years is a long time out. Last thing we want is for him to come back and come unstuck against some bum in a 'tune up' fight.
It was a carbon copy performance of WK against David haye. Box well, stay safe and don't get hit. Not what I paid £20 if I'm totally honest.
Pre-fight: Can Joshua go twelve rounds and show he can out box someone? Post-Fight: Joshua was disappointing and boring. The kid will never win with people who can’t wait for Eddies hype train to fail and I understand that, but just try to look objectively. 22 fights and in stadiums- he’s doing remarkably well for his inexperience and he’s having to do his learning under the spotlight, unlike the Hattons, Frochs, Calzaghes etc. He negated anything Parker has to offer last night and to be fair to Parker, he was pretty awkward to hit himself. Can’t wait for everyone to say Fury isn’t the same fighter when AJ knocks him out Excuses are already lined up. Wilder fight will be a tear up and a KO- dangerous fight.
I've said from very early on in Joshua's career he'll knock Fury out and I stand by it. We will never know for sure now but I'm adamant that Fury over Klitschko was a one off and a huge upset. No matter what happens now Fury or whoever fights Fury will get no credit for it. He either comes back and gets beat and everyone says he's been away too long and was past his best or he comes back and cleans up and everyone says the division was ****e and non of them were really top class.
