Is it time for Wilder to retire? Parker disarmed Deontay

Is it time for Wilder to retire? Parker disarmed Deontay

Igor Nekrasov December 24, 2023, 05:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

The Bronze Bomber’s super fight with Joshua is a big question mark.

A large-scale professional boxing tournament was held in Saudi Arabia. In the co-main event of the night, viewers watched a fight between two former world champions: Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker.

Wilder is one of the most famous heavyweights of our time. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist turned professional after the Games and had a fantastic career. In his first nine fights, Wilder earned nine knockout victories, eight of which came in the first round. Deontay’s knockout power intimidated his opponents, the Bronze Bomber demolished his opponents and became the WBC world champion in 2012.

Online transmission of the tournament:

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For eight years, Wilder held the title, made regular defenses and remained an undefeated boxer. Furthermore, before the first fight with Tyson Fury, Wilder had 40 fights, winning all of them, 39 of which were early. Fury became the second boxer to reach a decision with Deontay, with his first fight ending in a draw. After that, two more Deontay defenses followed, and then a trilogy with Fury happened. Wilder lost twice to Tyson and lost the title. After a year of inactivity, Deontay returned to the professional ring and in his last fight he knocked down Robert Helenius in the first round, showing everyone that he is still in perfect condition.

Let’s see Deontay Wilder’s technique:

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Wilder’s opponent was Joseph Parker, another former world heavyweight champion. The New Zealander is seven years younger than Deontay; He debuted as a professional in 2012, when Wilder was already world champion. Parker spent the beginning of his career in his homeland, amassing a fine 21-0 record and having a WBO title fight against Andy Ruiz. Joseph won, became world champion and then defended the belt twice.

Parker then suffered two defeats in a row, losing to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. Despite this, the New Zealander went on a winning streak and, after six successful fights in a row, he re-entered the WBO title fight. It is true that Parker could not become world champion again: he lost to Joseph Joyce, and this was Joseph’s last defeat in his career at this time. The 31-year-old New Zealander came into the fight with Wilder on a three-match winning streak; he won all three fights in 2023.

For Wilder, the fight against Parker was pivotal: if he defeats Joseph, Deontay’s next opponent should be Anthony Joshua, who also fought on the undercard of the tournament in Saudi Arabia against Otto Wallin. Therefore, a victory over the New Zealander opened the door for Deontay to a fight with the prefix “super”.

How was the press conference prior to the tournament:

Bivol and Makhmudov were ruthless. And Wilder and Joshua avoided each other

The first round passed practically without blows. Parker pressured Wilder, Deontay surrounded his opponent, but the boxers did not take active measures. A similar situation occurred in the second round: Parker actively advanced, several times approaching at close range with an attack, while Wilder responded very rarely, mainly throwing punches. In the third round, the boxers began to open up, Wilder finally remembering his powerful right hand, trapping his opponent several times. Parker still had the initiative and tried to close the distance with his jab.

At the beginning of the fourth round, the boxers faced each other several times in tough exchanges, where each one landed their blows. Parker seemed more active, hitting more, but Deontay also began to respond, throwing powerful punches at him. At the beginning of the fifth round, Joseph made a good attack, after which Wilder had to clinch. Parker worked in explosive bursts and attacked at close range without any problems. Deontay had little success in the first half of the fight: he didn’t keep Parker at range, rarely landed powerful punches, and backed away and defended himself more. In the sixth round, Deontay tried to get involved several times, but in general the picture was the same: Parker dictated the course of the fight, was more active and clearly took the fight on points.

The start of the second half of the fight followed the same scenario as the first six rounds. Joseph pressured Wilder, forced him to retreat and landed several powerful rights. Deontay tried to land power shots, but most of them landed in the air or on defense. At the end of the eighth round, Parker almost finished the fight: Joseph caught up with his opponent on the right and rushed to finish. Deontay hung on the ropes and spent half a minute in closed defense and was saved in the clinch; the gong saved Wilder from finishing.

In the ninth round, Parker tried to build on his success and again landed well at close range with a right hook several times. Wilder was unable to take the initiative; Joseph, with his performance, did not give Deontay a chance. At the end of the round, Wilder threw his trademark powerful punch, but the New Zealander managed to block it. In the tenth round, Deontay tried to act as number one, but Wilder’s attacks were not effective enough. All of Deontay’s powerful blows were in defense, Parker saw all of these attacks.

In the championship rounds, Wilder was looking for the knockout, investing in powerful blows, but Parker defended himself well and grabbed Deontay at the slightest danger.

As a result, the fight spread over the entire distance. Joseph Parker had a great fight, literally destroying Wilder. The New Zealander won by unanimous decision and mixed up the cards for the promoters: now the potential fight between Wilder and Joshua is a big question mark.