Barry: Parker can dethrone AJ

Joseph Parker can dethrone Anthony Joshua, but won't be rushed into any unification fight with the giant British heavyweight.

That's the firm belief of Parker's trainer Kevin Barry after he analysed Joshua's 10th round stoppage of durable Frenchman Carlos Takam to defend his IBF and WBA titles in Cardiff on Sunday (NZT).

All the attention now moves to Joshua's next opponent - with Parker, as WBO champion, and American Deontay Wilder as the WBC belt holder, the names on everyone lips as unification hopes come into the frame for 2018.

With Parker having got past a well-prepared Takam over 12 rugged rounds early last year and Joshua having struggled to put away Takam who took the fight on 12 days notice following the injury withdrawal of Kubrat Pulev, there was finally some common ground to weigh up the credentials of the young Kiwi and Brit.

Barry liked what he saw, in terms of matching Parker against Joshua, a fight that seems increasingly inevitable.

"It made me feel that we have a very, very good chance of dethroning this guy," Barry said of Joshua's effort against Takam.

"Everything I saw yesterday ... while watching the fight I am in my mind seeing many ways for Joe to nullify his attack and to open up holes on his defence ... I thought Joshua was robotic, I thought he was slow at times, I thought his lead patterns were very predictable.

"And, once again, he showed that he definitely has stamina problems, he was blowing big time."

Bary said it was important for Team Parker to remain patient and do things on their terms. He believed Parker would now be Joshua's prime target ahead of Wilder.

"The business side of things are definitely a very important side of it. But there is no reason for us to panic. We have to stay very clam and very focussed," Barry said with Hearn continuing to downgrade the monetary value Parker brings to the table.

"At the moment we are in a very good position. On that performance yesterday, even from what Joshua and Eddie Hearn both said, they don't want to get in the ring with Deontay Wilder just yet. Out of the two champions they will definitely target Joe.

"And we are happy about that. But we won't be jumping when Eddie Hearns tells us to jump.

"We have got work to do. We have already got plans in place ... our team are already looking at two voluntaries in 2018. That's why we are starting our training camp next week - we plan to hit the ground running in 2018. This is about starting the year early; we are going to have a big year in 2018."

Barry texted Parker during the Joshua fight and they had spoken afterwards. They were on the same page in terms of seeing ways they could beat Joshua.

Barry has always maintained that Joshua's confrontational approach would suit Parker.

"There are a lot of things in Anthony Joshua's game that I think work very, very well for us," Barry said.

"Look, there is no pretending the guy has huge strength and power, he is a big, strong, muscular athlete. But there are things that I know that Joe Parker can do with the right sort of style in front of him that I think measure up exceptionally well with what Anthony Joshua has to give."

Barry said it needed to be acknowledged that Joshua had to make alterations against a last-minute change of opponent, that brought difficult style and size adjustments.

But he also took his hat off to Takam who he felt had been exceptionally courageous fighting on such short notice.

"We know all about his big motor and pride. but on 12 days’ notice I didn't expect him to stick around as long as he did," Barry said.

"Takam always stays in shape but he hadn't done the sparring. I would have loved to have seen how the fight would have panned out if Takam had the same lead-in time to when he fought Joe, when he knew about the fight three and a half months in advance.

"And let's remember we fought him a year and a half ago. Takam is 37 in December, he is coming towards the end. The other way of looking at this is Joshua is another year and a half better."

As for the result, Barry felt it was "a very, very promoter-friendly stoppage" and commentators on the US feed he watched the fight on in Las Vegas were scathing of the referee's decision to end the bout early.

Joshua's win took him to 20-0 with all victories coming via stoppage. Parker is 24-0 with 18 KOs.

 

Photo by: PHOTOSPORT.NZ (Caption: WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker with his trainer Kevin Barry after defending his belt against Hughie Fury in Manchester in September)