By Ryan Burton
All eyes will be on the heavyweight division on December 1st when Deontay Wilder (40-0) defends his WBC title against the lineal champion Tyson Fury (27-0). Wilder is about a 2-1 favorite against Fury and most pundits believe that Fury has been too inactive in recent years to have much of a shot at pulling off the upset.
Former WBO champion Joseph Parker (24-2), who faces Alexander Flores (17-1-1) on December 15th, believes the fight will be closer than those odds indicate.
"I feel it is 50-50. I think it will be an exciting fight. You have a boxer and a puncher so it depends on who implements their strategy more. I think it is great for the division and great for boxing. Hopefully we get the opportunity to attend. It is going to be a great night," Parker told BoxingScene.com.
Fury's sparring partner Joe Joyce was recently quoted as saying that Fury is looking sharp and camp. Parker believes that a sparring partner's assessment is usually accurate.
"I think the sparring partners can gauge if a fighter is in good shape or not but also I think that Tyson Fury is one of those guys if his mind is set to something that he wants to achieve he can go out there and do it. But it is going to be hard against a guy like Wilder. Wilder has been a champion for how long, knocking everyone out?" Said Parker.
The better boxer is definitely Fury but Wilder has the type of one punch power that can erase a big deficit on the scorecards. What remains to be seen is if Fury can avoid Wilder's power.
"He is a boxer and he is going to move but he just can't get caught with that big right hand," Parker stated.
As for what a victory would mean for Wilder, Parker doesn't believe it would put him past Joshua in the heavyweight hierarchy but believes that it will put right in the ballpark.
"I think it will be close. Joshua, Tyson and Wilder are all there at the top. I would like the opportunity to fight any of them," opined Parker.
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