By Victor Ortiz

New York - WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (22-0, 18 KO’s) is one of the talented young fighters in a growing heavyweight division.

The division is in a transition stage ever since Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KO’s) dethroned Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KO’s) and won the IBF, IBO, WBO, and WBA world titles in November 2015 in Germany.

Shortly after that victory, Fury was stripped of the IBF title when he was unable to meet a mandatory defense obligation. And then last fall, Fury vacated the WBO, IBO, WBA titles to focus on his mental health issues.

The IBF title is now held by Anthony Joshua (18-0, 18 KO’s) of the UK, while Parker of New Zealand picked up the WBO last month with a win over Andy Ruiz.

Joshua and Klitschko will collide on April 29th with the vacant WBA/IBO titles at stake and seemingly the pieces will come together for the rest of the division.

In a deal to expand his global reach, Parker agreed to be co-promoted by Top Rank and Duco Events.

According to Top Rank President, Todd duBoef, a date for Parker to make his mandatory defense is being worked on.

“He has an upcoming mandatory,” duBoef told BoxingScene.com. “Bob was at the fight, the heavyweight division has something brewing. Klitschko-Joshua. The fight is really intriguing and it’s wide open.”

Currently, the WBO mandatory is Tyson Fury’s cousin, Hughie Fury (20-0, 10 KO’s). The plan is to fight the mandatory and then to have Parker invade the United States.

Once he arrives in the states, duBoef feels that a unification bout with WBC champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KO’s) would be ideal.

“I think in today’s world, there has to be consolidation to make relevance. Wilder is telegenic. They both mentioned each other, let them see if matches can be made. There are a lot of fights to be made in the division,” duBoef said.

“The lineage obviously goes through Klitschko. I would say a Klitschko-Joshua result will get the crown. But we don’t believe in chasing fights but we do believe in creating fights and attractions. Parker did incredible in New Zealand and I think Wilder and Parker talking about each other could create a buzz in the fight.”

On February 25th in Alabama, Wilder will make a voluntary defense against Andrzej Wawrzyk.