TRENDING:
BRITISH Born Nigerian Boxer, ANTHONY JOSHUA Gives Joseph PARKER Bloody NOSE, Holds World Title Number FOUR…Wins on points 118-110, 118-110, 119-109
*28 yr. old Pugilist Parades Championship Belts as WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO
* Victory in Cardiff becomes Joshua’s 21st straight career win
* ‘I am Now Ready to Face Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury’-Joshua
BY THOMAS IBADE/SPORTS EDITOR, CARDIFF
HE’S A SUCCESS STORY, a heavy weight world champion, born in United Kingdom by a Nigerian mother and British father. ANTHONY JOSHUA has now become a standard for championship victory as he beats, defeat and give a bloody nose to Joseph Parker, his opponent on historic points 118-110, 118-110, 119-109 which gave him the win in Cardiff, venue of the bout.
Certainly, Joshua is in the highest peak of his career been that he had his eyes fixed on his co-competitor without been distracted. Joshua’s ascent to the summit of modern heavyweight greatness continued on Saturday night but it was more of a chess match than a war as the Londoner outpunched Parker to claim a third ‘major’ world-title belt.
For a superfight, unifying three of the four major world crowns, there were aspects of the showdown which disappointed. Not the efforts of the two young, still-developing heavyweights, but more the manner in which the battle was managed.
The refereeing was pitiful. All the inside-fighting and clinch-fighting was disallowed by referee Giuseppe Quartarone. He was appalling, constantly separating the two as if it were an amateur Olympic bout. Every time a real fight broke out, the Italian intervened. It meant that as the two combatants went to work inside, they could not come apart and exchange. Instead, it was a fight contested 95 per cent at distance.
The judges scored the contest 118-110, twice, and 119-109 to Joshua, the 6ft 6ins Briton with the six-inch reach advantage making his physicality tell as the rounds progressed.
Although both men landed heavy shots, it was only in the 11th round – ironically after one of the few clinches that the referee did not intervene – that they buckled, the Samoan first, then Joshua, as they threw and exchanged heavy right hooks. “Parker’s a good young fighter, I’m sure I’ll fight him again, but let’s get Deontay Wilder over here to get an undisputed champion of the world,” Joshua said afterwards.
Parker, cut on the eye in the 10th and showing a terrific chin, is as tough as they come, taking uppercuts and hooks. But it was not good enough in this meeting and it was Joshua’s jab which took the fight away from him after the middle rounds.
Joshua won the fight by unanimous decision by the three judges British boxer Anthony Joshua on Saturday night, March 31, defeated Parker in the heavyweight boxing fight decided at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. The 28-year-old had to win by unanimous decision of the three refs after round 12 of the tough boxing fight. Joshua and his opponent from New Zealand went into this fight unbeaten, but the British overcame Parker who has never been down according to the commentator of the fight.
Before this fight in Cardiff, Anthony Joshua has WBA Super and IBF titles, and his victory over Joseph Parker has given him the WBO title. Anthony Joshua is now the WBO, WBA, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion of the world following his success over Parker in Cardiff.
The 28-year-old was announced as the winner by scores of 118-110, 118-110, 119-109 by three referees. WBC king Wilder is now the only man in Anthony Joshua’s way of unifying the division for the WBC title. Meanwhile, Nigerians are celebrating the win by Anthony Joshua. In a series of reaction, sports lovers expressed their happiness for the success the 28-year-old achieved in Cardiff against Parker.
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