Forget Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua. Wilder could be finished as an elite fighter.
Joseph Parker did a brilliant job of avoiding Wilder’s vaunted right hand and more than enough offensively to win a one-sided decision in a battle of former heavyweight titleholders Saturday night in Saudi Arabia.
The official scores were 120-108, 118-110 and 118-111. Boxing Junkie scored it 118-110 for Parker, 10 rounds to two.
Parker (34-3, 23 KOs) executed a smart game plan, staying outside the reach of a huge puncher or rushing inside to smother him while finding opportune times to attack.
He was particularly effective with his overhand right hand, which found the mark on numerous occasions.
Wilder did more waiting than punching, evidently trying to find an opening to land his vaunted right hand that never came. As a result, he let round by round — and ultimately the fight — slip away.
The loser landed only 39 total punches, an average of three-plus per round, according to CompuBox. Parker landed 89 punches.
Parker hurt Wilder only once — the result of an overhand right in Round 8 — but his inability to put him down or knock him out didn’t detract from a dominating performance.
The victory was one of the biggest in the career of Parker, who has won four consecutive fights since he was stopped by Joe Joyce in September 2022.
He’s now in a strong position to fight for a major title in the coming year.
Meanwhile, Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) had fought only one round in the past two years, his first-round knockout of Robert Helenius in October 2022. That followed back-to-back knockout losses to Tyson Fury, which might’ve taken something out of the 38-year-old.
Wilder gave mixed messages after the fight, saying he’d be back but also indicating that he was satisfied with what he had accomplished.
He and Joshua had agreed to face one another in March if things went well on Saturday. Instead of taking part in that massive event, Wilder has some thinking to do.
