By Edward Chaykovsky
WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (22-0, 18KOs) could be ringside for the April showdown between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko, who battle for the IBF, WBA, IBO world titles.
There will be a potential crowd of 90,000 fans at Wembley for the April 29th Sky Box Office clash.
"Joe could be [at Joshua v Klitschko] to call out the winner for a mega-fight at Wembley in the late summer to unify the belts," Duco Events director David Higgins, who co-promotes Parker, told The Express.
Parker was the mandatory challenger to Joshua's IBF belt, but then a new opportunity came up when Tyson Fury vacated the WBA, IBO, WBO belts. Once Fury dropped his titles, the World Boxing Organization sanctioned Parker vs. Andy Ruiz for their vacant world title. The fight took place earlier this month in Auckland and Parker won a close decision.
"That's what we want – to unify the belts and we are willing to lose trying. If the other belt holders shared our views it would fix the heavyweight division. Any heavyweight worth their salt should be looking to unify the division and hold all the belts. When the belts aren't unified, the public are confused about who is the champion," Higgins said.
According to Higgins, the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, never reached the heights of Lennox Lewis or Muhammad Ali - because the two brothers, who obviously would never face each other, always created a scenario where there was never a single unified champion.
"Take Lennox Lewis for example or Muhammad Ali, the Klitschkos never really got to that top level, in my opinion, because they didn't become undisputed. It sort of hurt the sport at bit for 15 or so years, but it's different now because the belt holders are hungry and willing to take the risk," Higgins said.
