Loads of you don't understand styles and tough fights

Yep, all those saying they are now sure Wilder beats AJ based on this fight have no idea. If you thought that beforehand, thats fair enough but Wilder and Parker couldn't be more different and taking anything from this fight to predict that fight is ridiculous.

AJ boxed cautiously vs a man that is not known for his power or boxing skills, that's the problem. Wilder hits A LOT harder than Parker, and he's a lot more skilled than Parker, same with Ortiz. Wilder is very flexible, mobile and fast, AJ's work rate would drop considerably vs Wilder and favor Wilder's 1 punch style. I didn't expect anything less from you.

It's almost like.... styles make fights. Would wilder have the power to get parker out of there, yeah probably. would parker have allowed that looping right bomb to hit him? who knows.. i dont think so. I think parker did a solid job of his defense to be perfectly honest. Did AJ appreciate that he didnt have the power to KO him, maybe... did he also appreciate that regardless if he did he may have left himself open to a nice counter gung-ho approach from parker if he left himself open? yeah He boxed behind the jab, controlled the distance and nullified what parker had. He outlanded on all fronts because of his reach which he utilised nicely. Neverthless was AJ at times sloppy, yes. Did he box dirty? yes.. multiple times he threw after the break, and he even ripped his own tape and walked back to the corner before instruction to sort it. the ref was so new he didnt handle it properly and allowed it. Was the ref ****? yeah... Is the referee chosen by Hearn? no. Was the fight comprehensively won by AJ? yes.. It doesnt matter what obstructions and conspiracies you throw, AJ won that fight and won it handily. Styles make fights. lets all just hope the wilder fight is next

Yes Parker was clever, but would Wilder had gotten him out of there? In my opinion yes he would.

I'm cool with that. Ward did that. Floyd did that. Wlad defined that. But, they were all viciously criticized for it. AJ doesn't get a pass. Deal with it. Bet you weren't one of the ones criticising them though..

Sounds like excuses being made. He won, but looked really bad.

People who say it was a horrible fight never saw Fury fighting before lmao. No comparison. Fury knows what he is and when he adapts to a strategy follows through on it. He beat Vlad convincingly by winning rounds and engaging on his terms, that is skill and strategy... that is boxing. When Fury beat Cunningham he knew how to use his weight properly, again, skills and strategy. Not taking anything away from AJ or Parker but if one cannot see what Fury is able to do with his jab/reach, his movement, and his choice of how to use his advantages, then one is not looking very carefully.

I didn't see the fight yet... But I want to comment on something. First off, One problem with some of these at the top has to do with experience and understanding what different roles engender. I want to compliment Wilder and Ruiz on this account: Wilder knows exactly what he is and what it takes to win. So when he gets into a tight fight, like he was in with Ortiz... and one could see on his face a look at a certain point, there was no hesitation. He went to throw another big punch, and if it meant loping across the ring, after he got his legs back again, he would have found a way, or died trying! Ruiz, Whyte also know what they have to do to win. Both guys have skills to throw combos and win rounds on accumulation... they are boxers who use skills to win rounds. AJ has the big punch to use, along with boxing skills... Hes going to have to decide whether he wants to work behind his jab, or open up when he gets in against guys who are strictly fighting from a known script. I will reserve comments for him until I see this fight... but lets talk about Parker! Parker is in a real jam. He will never win fights unless he tightens up and learns what a boxer puncher is. He needs to watch Louis. Watch Louis fight Conn and take almost every round of the fight to land enough that he could trust he would land the right combo to win... Parker needs to understand that his success is in the numbers, always! He needs to land enough to have a goo chance of winning fights. this kid seems to go into fights, work defensively enough, have a good enough chin... and hope that he lands now and then. Lamont Brewster had a similar problem when he was on. He had great punches but could never learn to be consistent enough to win rounds against smaller agile fighters. Parker has to look at Frazier, Holyfield and ask if he has the stamina to work that way to get his punches off...or he has to look at a more measured puncher boxer, learn the angles, cut the ring off, find the ways that work for him to land a lot of meaningful punches during the course of a fight. Parker has a chin and has to risk that chin if need be, to create the opportunities, find and do what that takes because right now I don't see that with him. Somebody needs to show him that its in the numbers! If he hits the other guy meaningfully a certain amount of times he can capitolize, and if not? he will last against the likes of AJ. From what I am hearing thats what he did...knowing he was in England, probably not getting a decision, not able to fight inside for whatever reason, and not willing, or without the skills, to take the risks he needed to take, to open the fight up and get in on the bigger man. Its sad that h did not at least make an opportunity to test Joshue's chin...even if it meant risking taking the L. No risk, no reward...no understanding of what will increase the ability to get more punches thrown at the opponent will make him a great gatekeeper for the guys who know what they need to do to win fights. Guys like Whyte. I know that Joshua is bigger, but if Parker wants to be a player in the division as he improves, he is going to have to develop the capacity to use that chin and defense to take the risks and to set up for getting opportunities to land on a bigger man. parker could learn a lot from someone like Michael Moorer. Moorer always found a way to work behind his jab and land... Even up to when Foreman put him to sleep. I hope this kid develops that capacity to make sure he hits his opponent a certain average amount of times during a fight...

Parker has never had power, which was part of the reason everyone picked AJ by late KO. Her was underwhelming, against an opponent who himself underperformed. You just have to be a man and accept that your boy isn't going to always look great and it's not other people's ignorance that causes it to upset you, it's your own. Again agree to disagree. See my pre-fight prediction, it was more or less bang on. Expected a toughish fight, I said Joshua might get soundly outboxed in a couple of rounds. I don't see the fight the same as you, I saw two guys who fought well defensively but struggled to make offensive transitions to build on that good defence. Joshua did it a little better, and thus won the fight. I thought he fought a good fight against an underrated opponent, but that doesn't mean he looked great - I never said he did, but that was due to his opponent fighting well in certain aspects. That is where yours, and other people's ignorance comes in. You think this adds up to a bag of chips, but it doesn't. All these guys, Wilder, Joshua, Parker, Ortiz, Povetkin have varying styles which will cause each other problems. None of them stand out yet for me.

I'm glad there are a couple people here with a level head. Good for you for not knee-jerk sh*tting yourself like most of the posters.

What was important was winning the fight. Everything else is secondary. I'm cool with that. Ward did that. Floyd did that. Wlad defined that. But, they were all viciously criticized for it. AJ doesn't get a pass. Deal with it.

Very predictable reaction on here, I knew people would be ****ting on Joshua and both Parkers performance.. Some of you need to realise when tactics are playing a part and understand that fighters can't excel in every fight. Parker was doing lots of things to offset Joshua, but he just couldn't mount sustained offensive success. This was because Joshua was was great with his feet and distance control. BOTH fighters were doing lots of things right. For the record, I thought Joshua fought a good fight. When you have a guy like Parker who swings fast at mid range and on the inside, sometimes you need to nullify, and he stuck with the jab and fought a very good disciplined fight. We saw Lewis fight cautious against Tua, and Wlad in many fights. This fight has very little bearing on other fights in the division, and both guys tonight are young fighters who will improve considerably. Lewis is no comparison.You might as well compare Romeo and Juliet to Love Actually. They weren't just tentative. They were sloppy and hesitant. There is fighting cautiously but you can do it with slickness and style. I saw none of that. I saw Fury Vs Klitschko and there was a boxing lesson with artistry. This was turgid. A 12 round slog.

I actually agree with a lot of what OP has to say, and from a purely defensive point of view Parker did well to take away Joshua's right hand and limit his offense; but I don't think Parker had a coherent strategy to win the fight. He survived well but in the end he spent most of the fight on the ropes, throwing shots at thin air and ultimately got tired. It's obviously easy for me to sit here saying that when he is dealing with a big puncher with a lot of reach walking him down behind a jab, but there was nothing from Parker or his corner to even try to adjust, and that let AJ cruise to a decision at his own pace. Very good post. I think they probably had a strategy but Parker was not able to execute it. I think from early on he had a look on his face where he was surprised at how difficult Joshua was to hit. Very much agree with the lack of adjustments, at times this fight reminded me of Wlad-Haye.

Parker's punches had pop on them for sure, so disagree with that. Problem was that he couldn't land more than one at a time and in fairness he had problems even landing the one. Lots of fan ignorance. It's unrealistic to expect Joshua to deliver spectacular, exciting fights at this level, he is very good, but he isn't someone who is going to glide through world level seamlessly. He will always have his ups and downs. Wilder is a totally different style and fight. Joshua punches shorter than Wilder and Wilder doesn't have the fundamentals that Parker has. But he is more unpredictable and has speed and length. I think it's 50/50, but as I've constantly maintained, the more fights Joshua has like tonight and just more experience in general, the fight starts to swing the in his direction. Parker has never had power, which was part of the reason everyone picked AJ by late KO. Her was underwhelming, against an opponent who himself underperformed. You just have to be a man and accept that your boy isn't going to always look great and it's not other people's ignorance that causes it to upset you, it's your own.

He did not look like someone who would beat Wilder, and that's what was important here. What was important was winning the fight. Everything else is secondary.

Oh please. Good fighters find a way to adapt and at least have a moment in a fight. Neither of these guys did anything and Joshua did less than Parker. Horrible fight all around and neither guy is that good.

People who say it was a horrible fight never saw Fury fighting before lmao.

It wasn't an exciting fight. But I think fighting somewhat 'cagey' when deemed appropriate is needed from a fighter. I think going 12 may be good for him also. No more 100% KO ratio to play up to. They always go at some point. Yep absolutely agree. Parker was confident, unbeaten, and dangerous. He needed to be convinced to lose, and even though Parker was game, and Joshua never truly got on top of him, he certainly did enough, and I agree that he needs fights like this and it will leave him in good stead for the future.

Josh is the new Wlad less skilled. More muscled

I haven't seen a single person say that Parker won. And Parker was cut by an elbow. Joshua didn't land a single significant punch in the entire fight. Compubox says otherwise.. https://www.boxingscene.com/anthony-joshua-vs-joseph-parker-compubox-punch-stats--126756