A combination of Tyson Fury, a long layoff and Joseph Parker may have broken Deontay Wilder and ruined a big-time heavyweight clash in March 2024 with Anthony Joshua.
On early Sunday morning in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Parker rocked Wilder and gave the former WBC heavyweight champion a formal boxing lesson en route to a unanimous decision victory (118-111, 118-110, 120-108).
Parker, a former WBO champion and a plus-450 underdog, executed a superb game plan to neutralize Wilder’s right hand and take advantage of the latter’s tentativeness and low work rate.
Parker’s jab to the body and looping right hand found the mark enough to best Wilder’s sparse attack. One of Parker’s big right hands seemed to rock Wilder and put him on the cusp of being stopped in the eighth round.
Wilder survived the round, but never found a home for his signature right hand.
Coming into the fight, a tentative agreement was to have Wilder face Anthony Joshua in early 2024.
Those plans are dashed, and now Parker is in a position for a big fight in the first quarter of the new year. Parker took the center of the ring from the outset of the fight and forced Wilder to work off his back foot.
According to CompuBox, Wilder landed just 39 punches in the fight and threw an average of 17 punches per round. Parker wasn’t super busy but was more effective than Wilder in every round on mine and one of the judges scorecards.
Parker landed 29 jabs and 41% of his power punches.
Throughout the uneventful 12 rounds, Parker looked like a fighter with a better game plan, more skill, and hungrier for a victory. Wilder has accomplished so much in his career and enjoyed three huge paydays in fights with Fury. He seemed to lack the ferociousness that once made him the most-feared man in boxing.
After the bout, Parker acknowledged Fury’s help during his training camp was a significant factor in his success. Perhaps that pours even more salt into Wilder’s wound.
That said, Wilder’s post-fight interview was far from tense. It may have been more revealing than anything else. Wilder seemed at peace with the loss, though he did inexplicably say he did enough to win the fight.
Toward the end of the brief talk with DAZN’s Chris Mannix, Wilder discussed retiring but left the door open for a return.
To make matters worse, Joshua scored a TKO win in his fight. Had Wilder won, they would have been set for a massive showdown.
We’ll see what’s next for him, but it’s pretty safe to say it won’t be against Joshua.
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