Any chance of Joseph Parker fighting Joe Joyce on July 2 are “slim” according to the New Zealander’s manager David Higgins.
The two heavyweights are in talks to finalise a deal that would see the highly ranked contenders face one another this summer. However, despite Joyce’s promoter Frank Warren insisting the deal was “quite close to getting done” there appear to be complications.
“They want a longer term deal which means it needs to be carefully contracted, every eventuality needs to be 100% right. If it was one fight against Joyce it would be easier,” Higgins told Stuff NZ who added that negotiations were on a “knife edge”.
If the fight is to go ahead on the proposed date in July, then Higgins says that a contract will have to arrive in the next few days so that his man can begin preparations with trainer Andy Lee.
Parker and Joyce were in attendance for Tyson Fury’s world title defence against Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium last month. And in front of TV cameras viewers were led to believe that the fight was on. That was nearly three weeks ago and yet nothing official has been announced.
“They are now putting quite a lot of effort into tying Joe up for more than one fight. That works as long as the contract is well set out and protects Joseph,” Higgins theorised.
Parker is currently a promotional free agent following back-to-back wins against Dereck Chisora. Joyce has been recovering from a wrist injury which has forced inactivity since his last win against Carlos Takam ten months ago.