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Sports correspondent & historian with |
According to Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter, Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker is next in line to meet the Ukrainian boxer.
Within hours of Usyk unifying the world heavyweight title with a fifth-round stoppage in a bout with Daniel Dubois on Sunday morning (NZT), promoter Frank Warren said Parker will square off with the unbeaten world champ, with the WBO World heavyweight title on the line, in Usyk’s next fight.
However, the three other major sanctioning bodies of the WBA, WBC and IBF, will believe they have claims to put the belt on the line first, so the horse-trading will begin.
Three years ago, Parker seemed finished as a genuine heavyweight contender when he was KO’d by Brit Joe Joyce.
He climbed back in contention when he beat former world titleholder, Deontay Wilder, and Chinese man mountain Zhillei Zhang.
Will Parker get to fight Usyk?
The only certainty is that whoever puts up the biggest pot of money will earn the rights to stage the unbeaten Ukraine boxer’s next bout.
On the local front, four Western Bay of Plenty boxers from two local gyms crossed the ditch early last week to fight in a huge carnival of Australian amateur boxing.
The inaugural Boxing Queensland Open International Golden Gloves took place in Brisbane from July 15-19.
Nearly 800 boxers entered and around 90 Kiwi pugilists flew across the Tasman.
Boxing New Zealand strongly encouraged New Zealand boxers who wished to be considered for the Commonwealth Games long list to attend the Australian tournament as performances at international events would be taken into account during the Games selection process.
Former Waihi resident Wesley Cameron, 19, who has moved to the Western Bay of Plenty to chase his pugilist dreams, returned home with a silver medal.
Two solid preliminary victories in the 70kg division put Cameron in the ring on finals day.
Bay Boxfit coach Gunnar Jackson said his boxer had done just enough to earn the decision, but the judges gave the bout to his Australian opponent by a narrow margin.
Tauranga Boxing Academy coach Mike Owen took three of his most promising age-group fighters to Brisbane.
Kaitiaki O’Neill and Suliasi Lolohea Kaifi fought with real determination to bring back silver medals.
The third TBA competitor in Fred Bradley was right in the fight in his semi-final bout before tasting defeat.
The Golden Gloves experience will stand all four Tauranga fighters in good stead in their BNZ National Championship campaigns in September.
