Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker 32-3 (22) walked through Faiga ‘Django’ Opelu 15-4-2 (11) in less than half a round to claim the Commonwealth title at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday night.
The smaller but powerful Opelu came to brawl and Parker obliged him, with the Australian coming off second best. A flurry of blows from the 31-year old Kiwi sent Opelu to the canvas and referee Ignatius Missailidis immediately waved off the contest at the 1:26 mark.
The fight was available in Australia on Main Event as a $60 pay-per-view.
Sitting at ringside was Parker’s gym mate and undefeated WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 33-0-1 (24), who spoke about who he would like to see his friend fight next.
“I’d like to see the rematch with Andy Ruiz, Joe Joyce, Dillian Whyte or even AJ. Fuck ’em all, Joseph Parker is back,” Fury said.
Asked whether he would be prepared to fight Parker himself, Fury gave a definitive answer.
“Definitely not. No,” said Fury, who is trained by Andy Lee just like Parker. “I’d rather give him the belt than fight him for it. We’re too close for that fight, and there’s plenty of heavyweights out there.”
Parker is all for the rematches too.
“It would be nice to get a rematch with Joshua, a rematch with Dillian Whyte and probably in the future, a rematch with Joe Joyce,” Parker said to Seconds Out.
“I like to fight those guys that I lost to. Before I flew here and before I locked in this fight, my manager put in a message to Joshua’s team and asked if they wanted to have a rematch. We had no reply but we’re still trying to chase those fights, those rematches and it would be awesome if we can. It’s just up to each fighter and their team.”
Elsewhere on the card Nikita ‘The Butcher’ Tszyu 6-0 (5) also had an early night, taking the scalp of Benjamin Bommber 5-1 (4) in the opening frame.
The pair jumped straight into the fray from the opening bell with southpaw Tszyu, 25, prevailing at the 2:09 mark.
After the fight Tszyu called out an unlikely opponent.
“Look there’s one person in this arena I’ve had my eye on, the Gypsy King, Tyson Fury,” Tszyu said.
“C’mon we’re going next, I don’t care if we’re going heavyweight I’m taking your WBC title – I’m joking, don’t kill me.”
Bommber missed weight by one pound for the junior middleweight contest. Tszyu weighed in at a trim and ready 153 pounds.
The victor was hoping to get more rounds in.
“I was kind of hoping we’d go a little bit longer but I’m glad everyone’s entertained,” said Tszyu, who is the brother of interim WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu and the son of International Boxing Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu.
