Joseph Parker 28-2 (21) could be headed into a fight against Dereck Chisora 32-10 (23) after turning back the challenge of Junior Fa 19-1 (10) at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday night.
In what was at times a scrappy fight, Parker won 119-109, 115-113 and 117-111 on the judges’ scorecards in front of 12,000 spectators in their all-Kiwi heavyweight showdown.
“Junior Fa and his team did a great job and it was a lot closer than we expected,” said Parker, who went 2-2 against Fa in the amateurs. “He’s got a great team behind him. There was a lot of ring rust between two fighters that haven’t fought in a year.”
Fa, 31, said he was happy with his performance despite not getting the W.
“I have made myself known to the world. I exposed Joseph. I felt great,” Fa said.
“People were talking about pressure going into the ring. I don’t think I looked like I was pressured or looked like I was out of place.
“I felt great going in there, felt great walking in. So close to winning it, but it is what it is.”
The difference in the fight, according to Fa’s trainer Eugene Bareman, was the former WBO heavyweight champion’s big fight experience.
“The big nice clean shots, they were very even. I probably had Junior up on those,” Bareman said.
“It was the work that Joseph did in between that isn’t necessarily effective in terms of hurting Junior but what it is effective in doing is separating the two.
“If the judges have to differentiate the fighters, that’s what they look for.”
The 29-year-old Parker could face Chisora next after the Aucklander was ruled out of their initial bout in October 2019 after suffering complications from a spider bite.
“I’m open to fighting anyone,” Parker said. “But with the talks from my promoter, Eddie Hearn and Matchroom and with [manager] David Higgins, they’ve got a clear pathway for me this year.
“Take care of Junior, then fighting Chisora, then fighting the winner of [Oleksandr] Usyk and [Joe] Joyce [for the interim WBO title].”
Parker’s manager David Higgins hinted that talks for a Chisora fight are already well progressed and could happen as early as May.
“Who knows, Chisora might want the fight even more now,” he said.
“But they’re both household names in the UK, which is what got everyone interested in the first place. Plus, there’s a bit of unfinished business with the previous cancellation with the spider bite.
“If that fight is on the cards, our camp have all agreed we take that fight.”
Evergreen veteran Chisora, 37, confirmed the fight was being looked at for London.
“If we can get Joseph Parker this year, in the next couple of months, we’d be happy for that,” Chisora told Sky Sports.
“Right now we are in talks about the fight to be in London.”
Chisora said he didn’t think much of the Parker-Fa fight, but gave the boxers a pass after a yearlong absence from the ring.
“The fight was not great,” said Chisora. “The simple reason for that was they didn’t spar a lot. They were not in shape, they didn’t train hard enough. There was no fear factor for both of them.
“Parker did what he needed to win. This was his comeback fight after a year. He’s just getting into his stride so we’ll see what happens.”
