Parker concedes Usyk heavyweight blockbuster unlikely, sets sights on rematch

Stephen Foote • August 5th, 2025 10:57 am

Joseph Parker | Photo: Photosport

Hope is rapidly fading to doubt for Joseph Parker in regards to his prospects of a world heavyweight title unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk.

As the WBO's interim title holder, Parker is the mandatory challenger to the Ukrainian great, who became the lineal world champion with an emphatic knockout win over Daniel Dubois last month.

The WBO has enacted a 30-day negotiation period for the fight to be booked by the fighters' respective promoters, which expires on August 23.

The alternative for Usyk - and the one looking increasingly the most likely - is that he vacates the WBO world title, which would leave him with the IBF, WBA, and WBC belts and the opportunity to pursue more lucrative trilogy bouts against the likes of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury before his impending retirement.

Usyk lands a left-handed blow on Fury's face

Usyk lands a left-handed blow on Tyson Fury | Photo: AP

Speaking to Sport Nation's Millsy & Guy, Parker confessed he isn't holding his breath for Usyk to commit.

"I would say 20 percent he's going to take the fight, 80 percent he is going to vacate the belt," Parker said. "That's just what I feel inside.

"I've seen him a few times now and I've asked him the question to fight me. I'm not sure whether it's a money thing, I know he said he's got one or two fights left and does he want to generate the most money.

"If you fight someone like myself, you make okay money. But if you find someone like Tyson or AJ, those are the guys who bring in big dollars."

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Currently riding a six-fight win streak, Parker has been widely nominated among pundits as perhaps the most legitimate threat left to dethroning the undefeated Usyk, who has essentially cleaned out the rest of the division during his decorated four-year run.

If Usyk were to vacate his WBO title, Parker could be immediately promoted to fully fledged champion or forced to fight another contender for the vacant strap.

But Parker isn't angling for any easy handouts, eager to put his skills to the ultimate test and earn his title the hard way.

"I'm eager to fight him because he is the best and he's fought everyone.

"He's fought everyone in the division, and he cleaned it out. When you have someone like that, you want to fight him.

"I do believe he's a great fighter and he's shown that in the ring many, many times with everyone he's fought and I want to test myself against the very best.

Give Joseph Parker his shot | Millsy & Guy

"I'd love for him to give me the opportunity to see if I can show him something different from what everyone else has been showing him."

With the Usyk uncertainty growing, Parker has already turned his attention to another prospective opponent for his next bout in Brit Dillian Whyte.

Whyte will square off with highly touted fellow Englishman Moses Itauma in Saudi Arabia on August 16.

If he's able to score an upset win, Parker says he'd love the chance to avenge his 2018 defeat and turn the tables on the "very dirty fighter" by employing some of the dark arts he believes got his hand raised in their first fight.

"If Whyte does win that fight, I'd like to bash him in the face because he talks a whole lot of shit about everyone," Parker said.

"We did have a fight in the past, and he won that fight because he used his head a lot, he's a very dirty fighter.

"The next time we fight, if we do get a chance to fight again, I'll give him a little bit of his own medicine."

Listen to the full interview below: