“After one of the dullest heavyweight title fights in memory, one camp screamed corruption while the other called for Anthony Joshua. It is hard to figure out which party was more ill-advised . . . For Sportsmail’s part, Parker had it by three rounds, though the New Zealander was particularly underwhelming. The 24-0 fighter lunged in wildly all night and only landed one major punch, in the 12th.
“Fury’s movement made him miss often, but what he offered in return was not enough to win the heavyweight world title. Those belts are hard to win, let alone on the back foot with jabs that land sporadically.”
RIATH AL-SAMARRAI, Daily Mail
Winner: Parker
“The problem was, as good as he looked, Fury did not pull the trigger enough, especially in the later rounds. That allowed the judges to give the New Zealander the tighter rounds on aggression alone.”
KEVIN MITCHELL, The Guardian
Winner: Parker
“Yet while his supporters screamed “robbery” and “corruption” after Parker was announced the winner, the reality was that Fury had not done nearly enough to assure himself of victory. The fight was there for the winning, had Fury been interested in turning the event at Manchester Arena into a fight.
“Fury was horribly negative, content to back away constantly, flicking out his left hand in a soft jab that tapped against Parker’s gloves or fell short all together. When he turned southpaw, copying his cousin Tyson Fury’s tactics when defeating then-world champion Wladimir Klitschko, he was warned for hitting with the back of the glove, not the knuckle – pretty basic stuff.”
RON LEWIS, The Times
Winner: Parker
“Mick Hennessy claimed his fighter’s world heavyweight title defeat was “corruption at the highest level in boxing.”
He branded the decision “bullshit,” insisted there were dark forces at work against Fury and will now fight to get the decision overturned.”
JOHN HUTCHINSON, The Sun
Winner: Parker
“The 6ft 6in Briton struggled to contain his emotions when he spoke in the dressing room, ending his press conference after 40 seconds.”
DAVID ANDERSON, Daily Mirror