On December 23 in Saudi Arabia, in a stunning evening of boxing, Deontay Wilder lost to someone other than Tyson Fury for the first time in his career. Joseph Parker carried out his plan for the fight perfectly - he hit, did not allow his opponent to accelerate and outboxed the knockout man.
By this point, Deontay had only ever lost to Tyson Fury. Parker won by decision: 118:111, 118:110 and 120:108.
Match statistics
According to CompuBox statistics, Parker landed 29 accurate jabs - Wilder had only 26 accurate power ones. Joseph also had a 41% accuracy of power hits, Wilder had 19%.
It is worth noting that Wilder before this fight averaged 36.3 punches per round and landed 12.5. In this fight, he averaged 17 punches per round, 3 accurate for every three minutes.
What's next?
Deontay was in contention for a fight against Anthony Joshua if he won. The Briton did not rule out that this battle will still take place, but, it seems, not next. Joshua has plans for an IBF title fight against Filip Hrgovic, and Wilder is not sure he will return:
“I’ll be back, and if I’m not, well, it was nice,” Deontay said after the loss.
Joseph Parker can also qualify for a fight against Joshua, but this is only if the teams agree on such a fight. Anthony has no obligations to Joseph.