Big turnout in South Auckland for Parker fight

Hundreds of people turned out in the Auckland suburb of Mangere - boxing heavyweight Joseph Parker's home town - to watch Parker's fight in Cardiff.

Parker, 26, took on England's Anthony Joshua in their highly-anticipated world heavyweight title unification bout this morning.

However, Joshua beat Parker to become the unified heavyweight champion of the world.

About 250 people watched the fight at the Mangere Cosmopolitan Club.

Earlier today before the fight, Parker supporter Piarimu Niao said she was not usually a boxing fan but she was backing local boy Parker and was confident he could claim a win.

"It's pretty tight actually but I think he's got it. Team Parker all the way. It's a good feeling when it's like this," said Ms Niao.

Crowds also gathered across the city to watch the fight, including the Grey Lynn RSA.

Jeff Ah Kuoi told RNZ's Danielle Street it was an awesome fight.

"Joseph Parker did well to hold his own ... first guy to go without a knockout. [Anthony Joseph's ] got a 20 win, 20 knockout [record].

"He did well, good champions, I'm happy."

The fight between the two champions took place at the Principality Stadium in Wales in front of a sell-out crowd of about 80,000.