Losing to Joe Joyce seemed detrimental to the career of Joseph Parker. While he wasn’t old, it’s been nearly five years since he held a world title, and considering how shopworn he looked, his championship days were ostensibly behind him.

Still, despite it all, Parker never stopped trying. He returned to the bottom of the ladder with somewhat of a wry smile on his face and began putting in the work. Three victories in a row against lower-tier competition had Parker back on track but a win over Deontay Wilder made his confidence jump through the roof.

With the biggest win of his year in his back pocket, world title matchups, big fights, and if the opportunity presents itself - revenge, are the only things on his mind. 

Parker will have another monster assignment on March 8, when he faces Chinese giant Zhilei Zhang - who holds back to back knockout wins over Joyce.

Some may call it new and improved, others like to think of it as being more seasoned. Whatever it is, Parker simply believes that he's a completely different fighter when juxtaposed to his previous self.

“I know the version of myself that fought Deontay Wilder is a lot different to the version that fought Joe Joyce,” claimed Parker during an interview with Boxing News.

Boxing can be a cruel sport. One minute, you’re on top of the world. The next, you’re fighting off naysayers claiming that you aren’t what you used to be. For Joyce, he’s dealing with the latter.

After being brutally stopped at the hands of Zhang, Joyce is telling all who would listen that he simply had a few bad nights at the office. Parker, even with his winning streak, shouldn’t be rated above him from his point of view.

Recently, the former WBO interim strap holder claimed that he would have no problem facing Parker again. He also believes that a win is a formality.

Parker has never been into the back-and-forth trash-talking. He is, however, willing to run things back.

“There’s only one way to find out. Let’s make it happen sometime this year.”