Joseph Parker (boxer)

Joseph Dennis Parker (born 9 January 1992) is a New Zealand professional heavyweight boxer.^[1] Parker was an accomplished amateur boxer expected to be a contender for a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but he lost narrowly in two qualifying tournaments.^[2] He turned professional in May 2012^[3] and is unbeaten in 13 professional bouts. Parker is currently ranked the WBO #8 and WBA #10 heavyweight boxer in the world.^[4]

Early life

Joseph Parker was born in South Auckland on 9 January 1992. He is of predominantly Samoan descent, but also has some English and German ancestry. He lives in Mangere and belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He is the elder brother of John Parker, an up-and-coming amateur boxer. Their father, Dempsey Parker, was named after heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. Joseph took up boxing when he was eleven and trains at a gym in Papatoetoe.^[5] He went to school at Marcellin College, Auckland, New Zealand.

Commonwealth Games

Parker competed for New Zealand in the super heavyweight category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He won his first fight by 14-7 over Canadian Didier Bence after scoring nine points in the final round.^[6] Parker needed only to win his second fight, the quarter final, to pick up a medal but lost to Tariq Abdul Haqq. The fight was tied at 7-7 after Parker landed a late punch to tie up the scores. The judges, however, gave Abdul Haqq the win by a majority decision of three of the five judges.^[7]

Professional career

As a professional, Parker has had thirteen fights and won eleven by knock-out (including technical knock-outs and retirements).

He was managed at one time by Sir Bob Jones.^[8] He defeated Francois Botha 'the white buffalo' on 13 June 2013 by a 2nd round knockout over the former four-time world heavyweight contender. Botha gave him the nickname of 'Baby Joseph' but after the KO he said "he is not Baby Joseph anymore, he's a big man".^[9] In his fight against fellow Samoan-Kiwi Afa Tatupu, a second round KO victory, Parker suffered a nasty gash above the eye due to an accidental head butt and did not fight again in 2013. He then defeated Brazilian Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (17 wins; 5 losses) on 26 April 2014, on the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko and Alex Leapai's heavyweight world title bout. In his next bout he defeated 39-year-old American journeyman Brian Minto (39 wins; 7 losses)^[10] on 5 July 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand. Minto was knocked down in the fifth and seventh rounds and retired after the end of the seventh.^[11] Following an easy victory over another American Keith Thompson in August, Parker went on to outclass durable Bahamian 42-year-old Sherman Williams (36 wins; 13 losses) with a convincing unanimous decision in Auckland on 16 October 2014.^[12] He knocked out top-ranked Brazilian and WBO Latino Heavyweight champion Irineu Beato Costa Junior (15 wins; 1 loss) on 6 December 2014,^[13] before doing the same to unknown American 34-year-old Jason Pettaway (17 wins; 1 loss) on 5 March 2015 in Auckland.^[14] Following a three-week camp as sparring partner to World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in Florida, Parker is expected to have four more fights in 2015, re-commencing in Palmerston North on 13 June against a yet to be named opponent.^[15] Followed by a bout against another yet-to-be-named opponent on August 1 in Invercargill, New Zealand.

Professional boxing record

13 wins (11 knockouts), 0 losses, 0 draws[1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
					01/08/2015	Stadium Southland, Invercargill, New Zealand
					13/06/2015	Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	13-0	Jason Pettaway	TKO	4	05/03/2015	Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau, New Zealand	Retained WBO Oriental & PABA titles
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	12-0	Irineu Beato Costa Junior	KO	4	06/12/2014	Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, New Zealand	Retained WBO Oriental & PABA titles
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	11–0	Sherman Williams	UD	10	16/10/2014	The Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand	Retained WBO Oriental & PABA titles
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	10–0	Keith Thompson	TKO	3	09/08/2014	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	9–0	Brian Minto	RTD	7	05/07/2014	Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau, New Zealand	WBO Oriental & PABA heavyweight titles
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	8–0	Marcelo Luiz Nascimento	TKO	7	26/04/2014	König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany	Interim PABA heavyweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	7–0	Afa Tatupu	TKO	2	10/10/2013	Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	NZNBF heavyweight title
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6–0	Francois Botha	TKO	2	13/06/2013	Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	5–0	Brice Ritani-Coe	UD	6	16/05/2013	Hyatt Regency Hotel, Irvine, California, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4–0	Dontay Pati	TKO	1	28/02/2013	Hornby Working Men's Club, Christchurch, New Zealand
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3–0	Richard Tutaki	TKO	3	15/12/2012	Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	2–0	Terry Tuteru	KO	2	09/11/2012	Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	1–0	Dean Garmonsway	TKO	1	05/07/2012	Sky City Convention Centre, Auckland, New Zealand	Professional debut

List of achievements

• WBA Pan Asian Boxing Association (PABA) interim heavyweight title
• WBO Oriental heavyweight title
• New Zealand National Boxing Federation (NZNBF) heavyweight title
• Gold at 2011 Arafura Games^[16]
• Silver at 2010 Commonwealth Championships
• Gold in the China Open

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Joseph Parker from BoxRec