Two undefeated champions will square off in Cardiff in March when Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker put their championships on the line in the ultimate unification bout. With Joshua’s IBF, WBA, and IBO heavyweight championships on the line and Parker’s WBO title also up for grabs, who will rise above all of the trash talk en route to a historic undisputed title? Here are some of the more intriguing betting markets heading into the fight.
Fight to Go the Distance
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Anthony Joshua’s 20-0 professional record is the fact that he has not just won all 20 of his fights by knockout but that he has won them by knockout early on in most of his fights. Joshua has seen his fights go past the sixth round just four times in his career, with not one single fight on his record going the distance.
That perfect knockout record from Joshua has prompted intrigue with regard to the fight going the distance. Lines on whether or not the fight will go the distance are available to those who think that Parker can take the fight through all 12 rounds. While this has never happened in a Joshua fight before, there is a first time for everything, and this is certainly a possible outcome.
On the other hand, Joshua doesn’t just defeat you, he bludgeons you into submission. His power and ability to harness that power are key to his success, and what spells doom for his opponents on such a regular basis. Generally speaking, Joshua has not had to face many opponents into the late rounds, so every time that he has to do so constitutes a new test that he will have to pass en route to being considered one of the world’s best overall fighters.
Parker to Defeat Joshua
For Joseph Parker, meanwhile, he enters this fight as someone with a few distance fights against different opponents under his belt over his last three fights. While Parker enters this fight at 24-0, 18 of those 24 fights have come via knockout, which is a lower percentage than the 100% record possessed by Joshua. While most have tabbed Joshua as the superior fighter, there will be an undefeated champion looking to prove those people wrong, leading to one of the more interesting Joshua vs. Parker betting offers heading into the fight.
Many fight fans think Parker has a shot to hand Joshua his first career loss. Getting long odds with a fighter who himself is undefeated is rare in boxing and could make a famous victory even more famous for those who choose to back Parker.
This fight has not been without its share of drama either, with some sniping back and forth between camps taking center stage at times throughout the pre-fight preparation process. Parker called Joshua the king of steroids at one point throughout the pre-fight publicity tours. That is, of course, a serious accusation, and one that has thrown fuel on what should already be an explosive championship bout.
To Joshua’s credit, he has turned those comments into motivation rather than letting them bother him, as reports indicate that Joshua is training harder for this fight than he has ever trained before. While it may sound cliche, that mentality is one of a champion, and it will be interesting to see what difference that training makes on Joshua, especially if this fight goes into the later rounds, which are relatively uncharted waters for Joshua.
With so much on the line in this massive heavyweight unification bout, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker will both need to find a gear that they have never found before to ensure that their perfect records stay intact. No matter who wins, there will be an undisputed champion in heavyweight boxing when all is said and done.