Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker come to blows on the mega card in Saudi Arabia on December 23 in a solid heavyweight match-up between two former world champions.
Wilder is coming off something of a long stretch out of the ring, having fought just once since losing to Tyson Fury for a second time in their trilogy back in 2021. That fight was a swift blowout of Robert Helenius in October 2022, though Parker poses a more difficult challenge.
He has come back from his loss to Joe Joyce in September 2022 with wins over Jack Massey, Faiga Opelu and Simon Kean.
The New Zealander is now 31 and has had 33 fights, winning 23 by knockout, with victories over Andy Ruiz Jr, Derek Chisora and Hughie Fury and just two other losses at the top level to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.
Speaking to ES News, promoter Eddie Hearn said both the Joshua and Wilder fights are ‘absolutely’ must win. Of course he believes his man ‘AJ’ will beat Wallin, and said he reckons the American beats Parker inside six.
“I really love Joseph Parker, I think he’s such a good bloke, but I think he gets stopped inside six rounds.”
Joyce is the only man to have stopped the durable Parker to date, so a knockout win for Wilder would be a statement indeed as he hunts for a fight with Anthony Joshua sometime next year.
