Shortly after David Haye pulled out from his rematch against Tony Bellew due to an injury, three opponents were brought up to possibly step in for ‘The Hayemaker’.
The first one was Tyson Fury who called out Bellew in a video online. The second boxer was Dillian Whyte who posted a couple of tweets in hopes of landing a fight against Bellew on December 17th.
Let’s not let the boxing fans down @EddieHearn I will fight Bellew @TonyBellew in December and beat him up even without a proper training camp @SkySportsBoxing
— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) November 20, 2017
I apologise to all the people that the fake heavyweight @TonyBellew has let down by not having the balls to fight me & save the December show @SkySportsBoxing the mans a coward
— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) November 21, 2017
The third discussed option was the WBO World heavyweight champion, Joseph Parker.
This year Bellew has expressed great interest in fighting Parker especially since he holds a World heavyweight title. However, Parker’s management is currently in negotiations with Anthony Joshua’s people and when asked about a fight against Bellew, the message was clear.
They are confident Parker would beat Bellew and get an ‘easy payday’ but they still have ‘zero interest’ in the fight.
“With the greatest amount of respect to Tony Bellew, we have zero interest in stepping in at short notice and replacing the injured David Haye on December 17. That’s despite our team having 100 percent belief it would be an easy payday and easy win for Joseph Parker,” responded Team Parker to Boxing News Online.
It’s no surprise that Parker wants nothing to do with Bellew. The Kiwi confirmed earlier that he will not step into the ring again this year.
A fight against Bellew could risk and jeopardise Parker’s chances of getting a good deal against Joshua and there is always a possibility he could get beat by the confident Liverpudlian.
“Bellew is not ranked in the top 15 of the WBO and needs reminding he is ineligible for a title shot anyway,” Added Parker’s people.
Parker and his promoter David Higgins have been very vocal on social media in expressing their displeasure with Eddie Hearn’s offers. Parker felt disrespected and Higgins called Hearn’s offer ‘insulting’. But the fact is Parker wants to face heavyweight champions – not Bellew.
“Now I have the WBO, I want the WBC. I want the IBF. I want the WBA. ‘AJ’ is a fighter who is the champion of the world. My goal is to unify. My goal is to grab his belts and to say that I am the real champion. It is everyone’s goal. It is just who works hardest, has better skills and technique at the end of the day.
"Let's fight and prove who is the best in the world!"@joeboxerparker tells us he is ready to show just how good he is by taking on @anthonyfjoshua… 🥊🥊🥊 pic.twitter.com/sCKnWHbnhV
— talkSPORT Breakfast (@TSBreakfast) November 8, 2017
“I don’t think I would have problems knocking them [Joshua or Wilder] out. Joshua has been dropped within his professional, amateur, sparring [rounds] and Wilder has been shaken up a few times,” said Parker in an interview with ESPN.
Parker is happier now that the fight talks are going in the right direction.
I’m very happy [that negotiations are progressing] and that is one of the reasons that I am being a bit loud on Twitter a little bit more if because if we weren’t talking on Twitter then they wouldn’t be negotiating with us. Negotiations were at a standstill, but after a few tweets we are back at it again. It is exciting to be negotiating, exciting to see if we can make it happen,” told Parker.
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