Revenge between Joseph Parker and Dillian Whyte may be in development again after Parker's surprise decision to sign with BOXXER and Sky Sports. The former WBO heavyweight champion was expected to face Joe Joyce. But the fight, which was first agreed for the next month, and then postponed to September, allegedly due to the fact that the wife of Andy Lee, Parker's trainer, was due to give birth.
However, on Saturday night it was announced that Parker had instead agreed to a deal with BOXXER, ending Frank Warren's plans for a Joyce-Parker fight.
Since Parker is originally from New Zealand, this may seem like a strange contract, although he is not new to the UK, having boxed five times in that country and often trains with Tyson Fury in Morecambe.
The signing of the contract suggests that Sky Sports still has ambitions to make big fights in the heavyweight division, despite rumors in recent days that Anthony Joshua may be leaving TV to sign with DAZN, as all of his professional fights he spent on Skye.
“The great thing about Joseph Parker is that he is ready to fight absolutely anyone,” said Ben Shalom, CEO of BOXXER.
Shalom's main goal now is a rematch with Dillian Whyte, who is also considered a free agent and wants to restore his career after an early loss to Tyson Fury in April.
Parker and White met at the O2 Arena in 2018 and White won via unanimous decision. However, the fight was controversial, Parker was on the floor in the second round as a result of a clash of heads, which referee Ian John-Lewis regarded as a knockdown.
Parker was winning the round, so this decision turned a 10-9 round for Parker into a 10-8 round for White, which was the difference between a White win and a draw. Parker also seemed shaken in the following rounds after this clash, but had a strong finish and forced White into a desperate clinch at the end of the bout.
The BOXXER team also includes Hughie Fury, who will face Michael Hunter on July 2 in Manchester. However, there would be little interest in a rematch between Parker and Fury as they had one of the worst WBO heavyweight title fights in recent memory in 2017.
