A battle with tons of implications in the heavyweight division.
In boxing, there are four coveted Heavyweight titles: the WBA, WBO, WBC, and IBF. Three of them will be on the line this Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales.
British superstar Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs), who possesses both the WBA and IBF belts, will face off against New Zealand’s Joseph Parker who holds the WBO belt.
The WBC title belongs to ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs), who will likely fight the winner of this bout in a unification super-fight.
Heavyweight boxing has largely been dormant since the illustrious days of Tyson and Ali. But in 2016, Tyson Fury dethroned longtime champion Vladimir Klitschko and opened the door for a new and exciting generation.
Right now Joshua is one of the biggest stars in boxing. At 28 years old he has the look, the skills, and the resume to be a unified Heavyweight champion. Joshua has been relentlessly called out by American champion Deontay Wilder, who is on a spectacular run of his own. Should Joshua beat Parker, a fight with Wilder would be one of the biggest in Heavyweight history.
Joseph Parker, age 26, has spent the majority of his career tucked away in New Zealand. On December 10th, 2016, he won the vacant WBO title with a majority decision over Andy Ruiz, becoming New Zealand’s first ever Heavyweight champion. His last two fights have been somewhat less than spectacular. He made around 1.5 million for a rocky decision win against Hughie Fury last fall. He is set to make around 10 million against Joshua who is a wide favorite.
Sky Box Office will stream pay-per-view in the UK, and Showtime will broadcast the main event in the US. The card begins at 5 PM ET/2 PM PT.
The full card is as follows, via BloodyElbow:
Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker – 12 rounds, heavyweights
Alexander Povetkin vs David Price – 12 rounds, heavyweights
Ryan Burnett vs Yonfrez Parejo – 12 rounds, bantamweights
Joe Cordina vs Hakim Ben Ali – 10 rounds, lightweights
Josh Kelly vs Carlos Molina – 10 rounds, lightweights
Morgan Jones vs Mose Auimatagi Jr – 6 rounds, super middleweights
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