By Ian S Palmer
Original article: https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/deontay-wilder-vs-joseph-parker-betting-odds-and-prediction/22469/
Former WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder of Tuscaloosa, Alabama returns to the ring on Saturday, December 23rd when he takes on former WBO Heavyweight King Joseph Parker of New Zealand in a 12-round bout. The fight from Saudi Arabia can be seen on DAZN pay-per-view in North America in the UK and on TNT Sports Box Office in the UK as well. UK. Wilder last fought 14 months ago when he was stopped Robert Helenius in the first round. Parker last saw action in October when he halted Simon Kean in the third round for the vacant WBO and IBF Inter-Continental Heavyweight Titles.
The 38-year-old Wilder beat former champ Bermane Stiverne by unanimous decision in January, 2015 to claim the WBC title and lost it to Tyson Fury in his 11th defence in 2020 when he was stopped in the seventh round. Wilder and Fury had fought to a draw in 2018 and Fury then stopped him in the 11th round in their trilogy match in 2021. Before running into Stiverne, Wilder had stopped all 32 of his opponents including Malik Scott, Owen Beck and Audley Harrison and the Bronze Bomber will climb into the ring this weekend with a fine record of 43-2-1 with 42 Ko’s.
Wilder is a former Olympic bronze medalist who became the first American since Shannon Briggs in 2007 to own a portion of the heavyweight title when he beat Stiverne. Wilder is basically known for two things, which are his size and his power as he stands 6-feet-7-inches tall with an 83-inch reach and has stopped every man he’s faced except Stiverne in their first meeting and Fury in their three fights.
However, he stopped Stiverne with a second remaining in the first round of their November 2017 rematch and dropped Fury in the ninth and 12th rounds during their draw in their first meeting and decked him twice in the fourth round of their third fight. Therefore, Wilder has dropped every single opponent he’s faced as a pro even though Fury remained on his feet in the second bout. Wilder now has 162 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2008 and his knockout ratio currently stands at a highly-impressive 97.7 per cent. Just six of his 42 KO victims made it past the fifth round.
However, they were six of his last 13 opponents; Luis Ortiz (twice), Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, Artur Szpilka and Chris Arreola. So in general, Wilder’s fights are lasting longer than they were earlier in his career even though he destroyed Dominic Breazeale in 137 seconds in May, 2019 and took out Helenius in the first round last year. As for the ability to take a punch, Wilder was nailed hard by Ortiz in their first fight and of course by Fury, but he showed showed resilience and a lot of heart in those fierce battles.
The 31-year-old Parker, who is now based in England, enters the bout with a mark of 33-3 with 23 Ko’s. He won the regular WBO title in December, 2016 by beating Andy Ruiz Jr. by majority decision but lost it via unanimous decision to Anthony Joshua in March, 2018 in a unification bout. His second defeat was a controversial 12-round unanimous decision to Dillian Whyte in August, 2018 for the vacant WBO International and the WBC Silver Heavyweight Titles and his third and last loss was to Joe Joyce in September, 2022 when he was stopped in the 11th round of a slugfest for the vacant interim WBO Crown.
Parker has good power in his punches as 69.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but has gone the distance in nine of his last 15 fights with all three of his losses coming in his last dozen outings. Earlier in his career, Parker’s power was his strong point but he’s had to depend on his underrated boxing skills and hand speed more often in the past few years. He went the distance five times in a row from 2016 to 2018 against Whyte, Joshua, Hughie Fury, Razvan Cojanu and Ruiz before stopping Alexander Flores, Alex Leapai and Shawndell Winters all in a row between December, 2018 and February, 2020.
Since then, he’s beaten Junior Fa and Dereck Chisora (twice) by decisions before falling to Joyce and rebounding a points win over Jack Massey a first-round stoppage of Faiga Opelu and the third-round win over Simon Kean. Parker needs to improve his stamina so he can fight the full three minutes of every round if he’s forced to. He landed several bombs against Joyce last year but was worn down and out of gas when stopped with just five minutes to go in the fight. Parker won the WBO Oriental Heavyweight Championship by stopping Brian Minto in seven rounds in 2014 and has won several other regional heavyweight titles in his part of the world including the WBO Oriental Title and the OPBF Crown.
He also has wins over Alexander Dimitrenko, Carlos Takam, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, Kali Meehan, Bowie Tupou, Jason Pettaway, Frans Botha and Sherman Williams. Parker turned pro in 2005 after an excellent amateur career and has 226 rounds under his belt since. He also has decent size for a modern-day heavyweight at 6-feet-4-inches with a 76-inch reach, but gives up three inches in height and seven inches in reach to Wilder. Parker’s not the most athletic and mobile boxer in the ring though and generally has trouble against fleet-footed and mobile opponents.
He also leaves himself open for counter shots but doesn’t mind taking one or two punches to land one of his own. His chin has been pretty reliable so far after being tested quite often even though he was halted by Joyce. Parker needs to instill a killer instinct as he staggered Joyce on several occasions and waited far too long to go after Dillian Whyte as he virtually had him out on his feet just as the bell rang and paid the price for not letting his hands go earlier.
Prediction…
Wilder has the power to instantly turn a fight around and he might need it against Parker as he could have his hands full here. Parker is a former champion, seven years younger than Wilder and still a legitimate threat in the heavyweight division. Of course, he’s going to have his chin tested, but if he can handle Wilder’s power he has a good chance of winning this fight. Wilder may take his time here since Parker has power of his own or he could simply wade in and land as many heavy shots as he can before giving Parker the opportunity to nail him first. It’s going to be interesting to see what Wilder’s tactics will be. I definitely wouldn’t count Parker out of this fight even though he could be stopped the first time he’s nailed on the chin. Nothing would surprise me here but if Wilder’s power hasn’t left him then I’d expect him to eventually drop Parker. This is a fascinating matchup though and a great test for both of them.
