Joseph Parker demanded rematches against Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte and unified heavyweight champ Andy Ruiz Jr after stopping Alex Leapai in the tenth round on Saturday night.
The New Zealand boxer improved his record to 26 wins from 28 bouts with the stoppage win, despite looking ring-rusty at Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, USA.
Referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the fight with less than a minute to go in the tenth after the former WBO champion drilled Leapai with a right hand that forced the Australian to stumble backward briefly.
And Parker spoke afterwards about avenging the two losses on his record against Britain’s Joshua and Whyte while also challenging new IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz Jr to a rematch of their 2016 bout.
“I want to avenge the losses to Joshua and Dillian Whyte,” he said in the ring after the fight. “I could fight Ruiz again. He thought he won the last time.”
Parker beat the Mexican on a majority decision back in December 2016, but many believed he was lucky to get the win that night. The 27-year-old pressured Leapai in the early rounds, attacking him with several hard right uppercuts.
Midway through the fight, Parker resorted to boxing, staying on the outside and landing quick combinations.
“I’ve been out of the ring for half a year,” he admitted later. “It ended up going more rounds than I expected. I just had to be patient.”
Another clash with Whyte could be on the cards if the Briton disposes of dangerous and unbeaten Colombian Oscar Rivas in London next month – where he is the 1.20 favourite to prevail.
Parker was involved in a brutal war against Whyte last year, suffering the first two knockdowns in his career as he lost on points.
Leave a comment
Link Dafabet