Joseph Parker upset the odds by shutting out Deontay Wilder over twelve rounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The underdog boxed strictly to his game plan, taking his opportunities to wobble the hard-hitting American as well as cautiously circling him so as not to give time for any devastating right hands.
Speaking to ES News, his trainer Malik Scott said there was ‘no shame’ in losing to Joseph Parker.
“Bad night in the office. First of all, Joseph Parker and Andy Lee – they had a hell of a gameplan. Joseph Parker’s chin wasn’t over his front, a couple of times he was heavy-footed I thought that Deontay could continue to be patient, jab and make him run into something, but his chin never went over his front. He fought methodical.
He had a game plan and he stuck to it. The best man won, congratulations to Joseph Parker. I’ve got nothing but genuine love and respect for him … He’s one of the best heavyweights in the world. There wasn’t no shame in losing to Joseph Parker.”
He went on to analyse what his man could have done better.
“We had an awful night. There’s a few things that he could’ve done more of, he could’ve done right. He came out of his base a lot. His chin came up a few times. The jab, it wasn’t filling blank spaces. All of of times in the fight nothing was going on, and that was good for Parker, not good for Deontay.”
In his post-fight words, the 38-year-old Wilder left the door open for potential retirement. Joseph Parker now goes on having significantly changed the plans of the heavyweight division.