Heavyweight contender Joseph Parker 33-3 (23) is looking at a December return following his third-round knockout of Simon ‘The Grizzly’ Kean 23-2 (22) at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old New Zealander, who briefly held the WBO title six years ago, was far too seasoned for Canadian puncher Kean, 34, who looked out of his depth from the opening bell.
Parker controlled the action for the opening two rounds before opening up in the third, smashing home a big right uppercut that sent Kean to the deck. He failed to beat the count and the contest was waved off by referee Bob Williams at the 2:04 mark of the third.
“We knew that Simon was going to step up to the challenge and put the work in and he was tough until we landed that shot in the end,” said Parker.
“He was tough, very tough, but we’d put the work in. You’ve just got to listen to the coach, he can see everything from the outside. The jab sets everything up and that’s what happened.”
Parker is now on a three-fight win streak following his 11th round knockout loss to Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce 15-2 (14) in September last year.
Trainer Andy Lee, who also coaches WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 33-0-1 (24), said it was the type of performance they were looking for put the heavyweight division on notice.
“It was a highlight reel knockout and that’s how you make a statement,” said former WBO middleweight champion Lee. “There are some great heavyweights here and Joseph Parker just reminded them of his class.”
The fight took place on the undercard of the 10-round non-title fight between Fury and boxing debutant and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Fury, 35, is expected to make easy work of the inexperienced Ngannou before moving on to face WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14).
The fight against the 36-year-old Ukrainian southpaw is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia on December 23, although no official date has been announced.
Parker hinted that they are working on securing an opponent for that card.
“We’ve got a fight in December, hopefully back here,” Parker said. “I’ve loved it out here and it would be awesome to come back out here and have another win.
“I can knock anyone out.”
Parker, from South Auckland, won the vacant WBO title against future unified heavyweight champion Andy ‘The Destroyer’ Ruiz Jr 35-2 (22) by majority decision in December 2016.
After two successful title defences – including one against Fury’s cousin Hughie Fury 26-3 (15) – Parker entered into a unification bout with WBA and IBF champion Anthony Joshua 26-3 (23) in March 2018, losing by unanimous decision.
His only other loss besides Joshua and Joyce came against longtime contender Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte 29-3 (19) by close unanimous decision four months after the AJ bout.
