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Brad Lewis: Parker can permanently silence haters with victory over Dubois
Brad Lewis • February 20th, 2025 3:30 pm
Photo: Photosport
On Sunday morning (NZ time), Joseph Parker has an opportunity to permanently silence his critics.
Throughout his career, the Samoan-Kiwi has faced harsh criticism from some sides of the media – the uneducated media when it comes to combat sports – as well as tall poppy fans who wouldn’t know a right cross from a shovel jab.
Fact: Parker’s legacy is already set in stone. Wins over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Andy Ruiz – where he also happened to be crowned a world champion – ensured that his credentials cannot be disputed.
Yes, the 33-year-old has suffered career setbacks. He was outboxed by Anthony Joshua and outpointed by Dillian Whyte in what was the best heavyweight fight of 2018.
He was run over by Joe Joyce in a brutal fight but made no excuses, even though my understanding is he was in a hospital bed in the days leading up to that fight.
But the measure of any man or woman brave enough to embark on a career in the unforgiving realm of combat sport is how they recover from losses.
After the Whyte defeat, Parker won six straight fights, including two incredibly tough bouts against journeyman Dereck Chisora.
Then, following his only career stoppage loss at the hands of Joyce, Parker reeled off his two greatest wins in disposing of the ferocious Wilder and towering Zhang.
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All that has led to this weekend in Saudi Arabia, where Parker can claim the IBF crown – arguably the most prestigious of the four heavyweight straps.
He faces an incredibly challenging task in Daniel Dubois, himself coming off his greatest win against former champ Anthony Joshua.
Dubois has scary power. End-the-fight-in-an-instant power.
But Parker has a great chin, tremendous recovery powers, good head movement and excellent defence.
If Parker can survive the first four rounds, the last half of the fight will belong to him.
And if the former WBO champion gets his hand raised, he will fight Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title in late 2025.
If he should lose, or even just scrape through to get his hand raised, I fully expect a corner of the NZ media to critique Parker’s performance harshly – that narrative has been constant for a decade.
But to the haters, I say crawl back under your rock, because if Parker wins, your opinion is irrelevant.
Permanently.
Listen to this week's episode of the Fight Club podcast below:
