A leading British boxing commentator has warned world champion Anthony Joshua "not to take Joseph Parker for granted" if the pair clash for the IBF belt.
The two young heavyweights appear on a collision course with Parker having the mandatory rights to fight Joshua for his belt. But with Joshua contemplating a fight with former champ Wladimir Klitschko to unify the IBF, IBO and WBA belts, the Parker assignment might be on hold.
That's led Parker's handlers to look at going for the WBO belt expected to be stripped off idle champ Tyson Fury and are trying to line up a title bid in New Zealand against Mexican-American Andy Ruiz in New Zealand this summer.
But Joshua and Parker will inevitably fight and with Parker's name in the media in the UK at the moment, former WBO world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson has penned a column for Sky Sports dishing out high praise for the Kiwi and warning Joshua of his dangers.
"Parker is a superstar down there (in New Zealand). They are expecting him to come back with the goods and walk straight through Anthony Joshua, so let's not be fooled just because we don't know him that well. He has got a lot to offer," Nelson wrote.
"He's got a lot to push forward on because he is as successful down there as Joshua is here.
"He's got a lot of attributes. I like him. He is hungry, he's unbeaten and he is at the same level as Anthony Joshua.
"People in the game say it is the perfect test because he is young and unbeaten and fancies he can do the job.
"We will see who has developed the fastest out of the two of them. He is the mandatory so Joshua has to fight him regardless. This is the sort of fight you don't take for granted."
British bookmakers don't go with Nelson's thinking and have Parker at an $8 outsider to beat Joshua if the pair do enter the ring in Manchester on November 26, the date for Joshua's next defence.
Nelson had 59 fights for 45 wins and enjoyed seven years as the WBO's cruiserweight champion. But he also dabbled in the heavyweight division, including coming to New Zealand in 1993 and beating Jimmy Thunder in Auckland with a unanimous points win over 12 rounds that earned him the WBF belt.
Nelson said there were similarities with Thunder and Parker in terms of their profile down under being lost on northern audiences.
"I remember fighting in New Zealand against Jimmy Thunder. Nobody had heard of him over here in the United Kingdom but he was a big deal down there," Nelson wrote for Sky Sports.
Nelson retired in 2005 on an unbeaten stretch of 21 fights.
Parker fights Russian Alexander Dimitrenko in Manukau on Saturday night, a fight he must win to keep his world title shot alive.
