Junior Fa

With a date clash with the All Blacks now ruled out - today it was announced the fight had been pushed back a day to Saturday, 12 December.

While 24 hours isn't much, every day is particularly important for Parker - with longtime trainer Kevin Barry just one week out of quarantine having arrived from America.

Up until a week ago, Parker and Barry had spent eight months apart.

Not the ideal scenario as Parker prepared for a high-stakes clash with countryman and amateur rival Fa.

A disciplined Parker has kept himself in beast mode during a frustrating seven months since Covid-19 stalled what was a promising start to a year when he had such huge plans to make up for what was a disappointing 2019 as injury hit him.

Now the stars have aligned for a Kiwi superfight against his old amateur rival Junior Fa in Auckland on December 11 and Barry, in hotel lockdown for two weeks since arriving from Las Vegas, knows Parker is physically ready to dominate the man put in front of him.

Negotiations for a fight between former world champion Parker and the top-10 ranked Fa stalled once again early last month.

But the all-Kiwi contest was again being lined up.

Parker's British promoter Eddie Hearn revealed on Thursday details were being finalised for a big fight in New Zealand in October.

Responding to Hearn's comments, Parker's manager David Higgins confirmed discussions were advancing and revealed Fa was still their preferred opponent.

Kaniva News reports the referee blew the whistle on the match after two minutes and 51 seconds.

Commentators said the Frenchman was clearly outclassed by Fa.

The victory in Columbus, Ohio, gave Fa his 17th win.

It was his fourth fight in the United States.

It allowed Fa, who is 12th in the World Boxing Organisation World heavyweight rankings, to add the WBO International belt to his WBO Oriental title.

Fa fought Ouatah during the Arnold Classic Bodybuilding Championships.

After winning his first 24 professional bouts and claiming the WBO world title in the process, Parker has lost his last two contests - leaving some doubting whether he belongs with the elite heavyweights.

But the 26-year-old insisted he's using those criticisms to drive him on what he hopes will be a path back to the belt.

"I hear the doubters all the time, for us we use it as something to give us drive, Parker said on Thursday after confirming his return to the ring in Christchurch on December 15.

The headline fight will be the final bout of the evening, on a card full of potentially exciting fights that should have both the hard-core and casual boxing fans circling the date in their calendar. 

“With the calibre of fighters that I have assembled I believe this is the best card I have put together and I believe there will be some stunning knockouts,” says Cameron.

Fa's win in Ohio in front of his influential promoter Lou DiBella came after only 67 seconds and left Latham, who had been backed into a corner, in a bad state.

The trouble for the previously undefeated Latham began almost immediately when Fa scored with a beautifully-timed one-two which backed his opponent against the ropes and the New Zealander wasted little time in taking advantage of his dominance.

Fa relentlessly battered Keith Barr (17-11-1, 7 KOs) en route to a third-round knockout.

The 6-foot-5, 272-pound Fa, who went 2-2 against world titleholder Joseph Parker in the amateur ranks, methodically beat down Barr with textbook left jab-right combinations time and again.

He dropped Barr, 32, of Glenville, West Virginia, in the second round and hammered him around the ring for most of the round.

In the third round, he landed at will, connecting with about two dozen unanswered punches before a left hook to the body dropped Barr to a knee.

Kaniva News reports Fa will box on the undercard of undefeated WBC pugilist Deontay wilder on February 25.

The fight is part of a three year contract Fa has signed with promoter Lou Dibella, who has 70 fighters on his books.

Fa was DiBella’s first signing since a recent alliance with Australian boxing agent Brendan Bourke to seek out talent for him in the Asia Pacific region.

Under his new contract, Fa will step into the ring at last three times a year in the United States.

American Di Bella is the former boss of HBO TV's boxing set up and boasts 70 fighters on his books, including WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

But Di Bella says he's excited at the addition of the 27-year-old, who will now be his only other heavyweight fighter besides Wilder.

"Junior has tremendous tools, size, reach - he has power and he has amateur pedigree," he said.

"He has to be developed properly and that's going to be the job for myself and his management to make sure that he is."