Parker attempted to box Joyce and tried to stand his ground on occasion to establish his power and gain the respect of Joyce but while he may have gained the respect of Joyce, Parker could never stem the steady attack of the Juggernaut.
Parker landed his share of right hands but Joyce paid them little mind and Parker dealt with a bad cut over his right eye from the early portion of the fight.
I had Joyce leading 97-93 at the time of the stoppage.
I thought Parker had a chance to outbox Joyce and the New Zealand veteran fought well but Joe Joyce fought better and it's pretty clear that I didn't give Joyce enough credit for his similar win over Daniel DuBois.
Joyce reminds me so much of former heavyweight contender Ray Mercer with a rock-hard chin, plus power, a late start to a pro career, and a willingness to fight anyone.
Joyce does throw more punches than Mercer did as Mercer could be outworked in his fights- you won't say that about Joe Joyce,
Joe Joyce needs to continue to stay active as he is 37 years old and it's very possible that his first chance at a championship could be his final one but I think this win proves he's at worst the third-best heavyweight in the world.
I'd pick Joyce over former champions Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder and I'd rate him as a very intriguing underdog against either world champion Oleksandr Usyk or Tyson Fury.
Usyk defeated Joyce in the amateurs and certainly has the skills to outbox the sometimes plodding Joyce but can he do that for the twelve-round distance against the constant pressure of Joyce?
Fury will have the height and weight advantage over Joyce as he has over most heavyweights but the edge won't be as pronounced as usual and I wonder how effective a usual Fury tactic of laying on the inside and pushing down on the smaller fighter to sap energy would be against Joyce.
I would lean toward either champion in a potential Joyce bout but Joyce would have a decent chance of dethroning either man as well.
As for Joseph Parker, the former WBO champion has established himself as a top ten and very capable heavyweight and only the best of the division are going to get by Parker.
However, against those top-of-the-world boxers, Parker has fallen a little short and he may have fallen into gatekeeper status albeit as the best gatekeeper a heavyweight can be.
Parker may have been stopped for the first time in his career but under the circumstances has nothing to be ashamed of in defeat.
Meanwhile, over in Nottingham (Joyce-Parker took place in Manchester), a lightweight DAZN main event wasn't nearly as exciting as veteran lightweight Maxi Hughes won a majority decision over former IBF featherweight champion Kid Galahad in a fight that was filled with awkward exchanges and fouls that would eventually decide the fight as Galahad would lose on one card by one point and finished even on another after losing a point in round ten for headbutting Hughes.
The cards read 116-111 and 114-113 for Hughes and an even card of 114-114 so the point loss cost Galahad a draw.
I scored the fight 114-113 for Hughes in a close and hard-fought affair that didn't mesh smoothly in style.
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