By Jake Donovan

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Joseph Parker prevailed in the battle of Samoa… in Providence.

The former heavyweight titlist from New Zealand enjoyed a successful DAZN debut, scoring a 10th round stoppage over Australia’s Alex Leapai in Saturday’s chief support at Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

With the bout starting well past 10:00pm local time and the main event still on deck, the crowd was worked up in a frenzy when Parker nearly ended the bout in the opening round. Leapai was rocked several times in the frame, including one sequence where he was trapped in a neutral corner.

 

It was as close as the night would come to an early ending. Leapai continued to absorb, while Parker continued to swing away, although the steam was coming off his punches with each passing round.

Leapai didn’t win a round or come close to it at any point, with the bout becoming a matter of whether Parker can dig deep enough to end the fight. He had to work for it much harder than his first fight back in the win column in stopping Alexander Flores in four rounds last December after back-to-back decision losses.

Parker finally wore down Leapai to the point where referee Ricky Gonzalez felt compelled to stop the contest. A series of head shots had the Aussie heavyweight frozen in place, prompting the third man to intervene at 2:18 of round ten.

The win is the second straight for Parker, who improves to 26-2 (20KOs).

“I was pleased with my performance, it was my first fight in six months,” Parker told DAZN’s Chris Mannix afterward.

Leapai falls to 32-8-4 (26KOs) with the loss, snapping a modest three-fight unbeaten streak. The 39-year old reached his career peak heading into an April 2014 title challenge versus then-World champion Wladimir Klitschko, where he suffered a 5th round knockout.

Meanwhile, Parker will go on the hunt for a lot more than just more wins.

The 27-year old heavyweight enjoyed a 15-month stay as an unbeaten heavyweight titlist, beginning with a Dec. 2016 vacant title win over then-undefeated Andy Ruiz Jr. His reign was largely unspectacular, ending in a disappointingly dull 12-round decision defeat to Anthony Joshua in their unification bout last March.

Four months later came a far more spirited effort, albeit in a loss to Dillian Whyte.

The goal moving forward is to get all three back in the ring.

“I want Dillian Whyte first, then Anthony Joshua,” noted Parker, saving for last the reigning unified titlist in Ruiz, who scored a massive upset earlier this month in a 7th round knockout of Joshua. “After that, I would fight Andy Ruiz. I know that he thinks he won that fight. Big ups to him for winning his fight against AJ but if he wanted to settle his score, I’d do it.”

The bout served as the chief support to local hero Demetrius Andrade’s middleweight title defense versus Poland’s Maciej Sulecki.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox