By Ryan Burton
The heavyweight division heats up this fall as all three champions are scheduled to return to the ring.
WBO champion Joseph Parker (23-0) is less than three weeks away from defending his title against his mandatory challenger Hughie Fury (20-0). The action takes places at the Manchester Arena in the United Kingdom on September 23rd.
IBO/WBA/IBF champion Anthony Joshua's October 28th defense against the mandatory challenger under the IBF, Kubrat Pulev, is expected to be announced in the near future.
And WBC champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) is expected to face the unbeaten Luis Ortiz (27-0, 23 KOs) a week later, on November 4th, tentatively at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
While Joshua is expected to beat Pulev without much trouble, many experts expect Ortiz to give Wilder a tough fight.
Parker doesn't share that notion. While he has a lot of respect for Ortiz, he expects Wilder to come out on top against the Cuban.
"I think Wilder is a champion for a reason. I pick Wilder but Ortiz is a tricky fighter and I think the southpaw stance will give him some trouble but I think Wilder has the punch to finish him and he always rises to the occasion," Parker told BoxingScene.com.
The 25-year-old Parker also said that he would love to unify titles against the winner.
"I would love to fight anyone. If I keep winning and whoever wins between Wilder and Ortiz keeps winning, I would love to fight him," said Parker.
Ortiz has been out of the ring since last December, when he stopped British contender David Allen in Manchester as part of the undercard to Joshua's knockout of Eric Molina. Wilder saw action back in February, when he stopped late replacement Gerald Washington in Alabama.
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