New Zealand star Joseph Parker says Saturday’s heavyweight rematch with Dereck Chisora at Manchester’s AO Arena is a “make or break” fight in his career (Parker 2/5, Chisora 2/1, Draw 16/1 – Bout Winner).
Former WBO heavyweight champion Parker came out on top via a split decision when these two met back in May, despite being knocked down in the opening 10 seconds, but he is hoping to earn a more convincing victory in the rematch.
The New Zealander is currently on a five-fight winning streak, having defeated Alexander Flores, Alex Leapai, Shawndell Terell Winters and Junior Fa before that victory over Chisora, and talk of a shot at the world titles could increase if he extends this run to six.
Parker did hold the WBO belt for years, only to then lose his strap to Britain’s Anthony Joshua in March 2018 – his first career defeat – before he then suffered the second loss of his career to Dillian Whyte four months later.
The 29-year-old still has aspirations of earning another shot at the world title, but he believes Tyson Fury has the beating of any heavyweight out there right now, while WBA, IBF and WBO holder Oleksandr Usyk is in no mood to relinquish his belts.
Parker says all the world titles are “locked in” at the moment and stressed these potential bouts are not his immediate focus, telling BBC Sport: “I’m not sure when those big world-title fights will be made for me so my goal, for now, is to win and win well against people who are in front of me.
The New Zealander insists he wants there to be no doubt after Saturday’s rematch with Chisora, adding: “I just want to beat him properly this time. If I can’t beat Derek then I have to really look at myself and where I go from there.”
Parker has 21 KO victories to his name and he is 2/1 to win by KO/TKO/DQ/Technical Decision, while Chisora is available at 19/5 in the same betting market.
