Joseph Parker, the former WBO heavyweight champion, has picked Joe Joyce as his toughest opponent. Parker shared this during a chat with Carl Froch, despite having faced other big names like Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang, and Anthony Joshua.
Parker won the WBO heavyweight title back in 2016 when he beat Andy Ruiz. He lost it to Anthony Joshua in 2018. But he's been on a roll lately. In the past year, he's beaten both Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, putting himself back in line for another world title shot.
Now, Parker's getting ready for his next big fight. He'll face Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight title in February. The fight will happen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the same card as the Artur Beterbiev and Dmity Bivol rematch for the undisputed light-heavyweight title.
When Froch asked Parker about his toughest opponent on his YouTube channel, Parker didn't hesitate:
"Joe Joyce. It wasn't a great night for me, it was tough."
Parker explained that he was really sick before the Joyce fight. He said:
"Mentally I thought I would smash this guy. Then after one round I thought damn, it's not going by well."
Parker described Joyce as not the fastest or quickest mover. But he added, "The pressure, I wasn't healthy. It was tough."
The fight with Joyce happened in September 2022. Joyce knocked out Parker in the 11th round. It's the only time Parker has been stopped in his career.
Parker's aiming to become world champion again in February. Interestingly, his former opponent Zhang has made a prediction about how the Parker vs Dubois fight will go down.
