A tale of three knockouts

"You aren't done until you tell yourself that you are done!"

September 2022

Joe Joyce outlasts Joseph Parker in a war of attrition. Joyce keeps coming forward taking everything that Parker threw at him and delivers a vicious knockout to end the contest. This was the first knockout of Parker's career and many thought such a deflating loss would end his stint as a respected heavyweight contender. Joyce on the other hand was crowned as the mandatory for the WBO Heavyweight Championship. He was proclaimed as the rising star of the division and a serious threat to the reigning champions.

April 2023

With the mandatory title fight still a long way away, Joe Joyce took on the dangerous but unproven former Olympic Silver Medalist, Zhilei Zhang in a stay busy fight. To everyone's dismay, Joyce wilted under the onslaught of Zhang's power punching who took the possession of the WBO Interim Heavyweight title and the mandatory status. Like Parker, this was the first stoppage loss of Joyce's professional career.

September 2023

Joyce invoked his rematch clause straight away and met Zhang in a highly anticipated rematch almost exactly a year since his heroics against Parker. This time though the outcome would be even more conclusive with Zhang denting the famous granite chin of Joyce and knocking him out in the third round. That knockout enhanced Zhang's burgeoning reputation as a fearsome puncher and completely unraveled Joyce's championship aspirations.

Joseph Parker meanwhile

While Joyce and Zhang were going at it, Parker rebuilt himself slowly and steadily with three wins over limited opposition. His activity meant that he was always in shape to take on a fight at a short notice and a golden opportunity came his way in the form of former WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder on the Day of Reckoning card. Parker seized the moment with gusto and outpointed a hopelessly off color Wilder in an exhibition of skill and ring generalship. He not only received plaudits for his performance but was also rewarded with a shot against Zhang on the Joshua-Ngannou undercard.

March 2024

A tale of three heavyweights spanning two years found its fitting finale in the Zhang VS Parker bout. Zhang with his trademark precision and power started strongly, dropping Parker in the third round and opened a cut on his nose. Parker withstood the barrage and utilized his superior movement and speed to rock Zhang with a few of his own punches. As Parker began to edge ahead on the judges' scorecards, Zhang fought back with another knockdown in the 8th round. Parker recovered immediately and reverted to his gameplan of getting out of Zhang's range and unloading his offence whenever he sensed an opportunity. As the fight wore on, Zhang was too tired to narrow the gap in points that had been built up. When the results came out, it was no surprise that Parker had won the fight and he did it the hard way too by standing his ground and withstanding two knockdowns which could have troubled many a top heavyweight. With this performance he knocked Zhang off from his perch at the top of the heavyweight boxing.

Victorious Joseph Parker after the Zhilei Zhang fight <Courtesy: DAZN Boxing>

So, the WBO Interim Heavyweight Championship and the mandatory status finally make their way to the former WBO Heavyweight Champion, Joseph Parker. It's not easy to recover from a knockout but that's exactly what Parker did by starting at the bottom and working his way back to the top. The initial wins after the Joyce defeat weren't impressive but each fight provided him with an opportunity to hone his craft and build his confidence. His rapid ascent after hitting a brickwall teaches all of us a very important lesson, if you can ignore the naysayers and keep your focus while chipping away at your deficiencies then anything is possible in this world.

Until Next Time,

Your Sports Raconteur,

Chaitanya J.J.

P.S. There might yet be a twist in the tale when Zhang reinvokes his rematch clause against Parker. Who knows what lessons that fight might teach us?

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