Of all the boxes that Anthony Joshua had rushed to tick during his whirlwind four-year professional career, only one had remained blank until Saturday night: going the distance in the ring. No more.
Joseph Parker proved as tough as advertised, outgunned but never overwhelmed, but – tellingly – it was Joshua, with his supposedly suspect stamina, who finished the stronger man as he won a wide and unanimous points decision.
In truth, it wasn’t a classic. It was too stop-start for that, with the referee Giuseppe Quartarone rightly taking much of the blame for being too eager to break up every clinch. Yet there was enough menace in both men’s work to keep it interesting – even though Joshua’s stiff left jab, which acted like a cattle prod for most of the fight, dominating and repeatedly stinging his opponent, ensured he stayed in control.
The victory means that the 28-year-old leaves Cardiff with Parker’s WBO heavyweight title, to add to his WBA, WBC, and IBO belts, and the obvious next step would be for an immediate reunification bout with the big punching WBC champion, Deontay Wilder. In boxing, however, things are rarely that simple.
The American was expected to travel to Cardiff to see Joshua up close but instead watched it on Showtime in the US. And when asked whether a reunification fight was likely to happen he replied: “Given the mannerisms, they have been showing at the way they have acted, I highly doubt it.â€
Afterward Joshua made it clear he wants Wilder next. However promoter Eddie Hearn insisted that Wilder has shown no interest in making terms. So, not for the first time, there is an impasse.
Whatever happens the Joshua Express will charge on regardless. This, after all, was a fight beamed live to 215 countries – from Honduras to Holland – compared to 140 for his meeting against Wladimir Klitschko last April. The message is clear: Joshua might be made, and apply his trade, in Britain, but he is a fast-growing global brand.
And now he can rest and reflect on a job well done against Parker. Beforehand his trainer, Rob McCracken, had warned this would be his man’s second-toughest test, after his seesawing epic against Klitschko last April. And so it proved.
Parker had arrived at the Principality Stadium smiling and fist-bumping the security guards. And as his hands were wrapped he also promised that “this was his destiny and his timeâ€. If there were any pre-fight nerves he masked them with the skill of an illusionist: he had, his camp promised, even slept for nine hours on Friday night.
But once the action started the devilish intent in Joshua’s fists quickly woke him up. The first four rounds were largely one-way traffic, with Joshua stalking his man from the centre of the ring, and making his towering presence felt with stiff jabs and spearing body punches.
By the second round Parker’s nose was slightly bloodied. And by the fourth he looked increasingly ragged and out of ideas. True, the New Zealander had enjoyed some success with his fast left jab. But every time he threw a combination Joshua adroitly stepped back, making his opponent’s floundering punches fall short.
But as Joshua slowed in the fifth round, Parker got a second wind and a surge of confidence when he landed a couple of meaty blows. The sixth too went Parker’s way, and suddenly we had a fight.
No less a dignitary than Sugar Ray Leonard was at ringside, having called Joshua the “entire package†after visiting his dressing room beforehand.
But Leonard was perhaps a little too fulsome with his praise: for while the Briton’s jab was excellent, he was unable to put together enough sustained combinations to put Parker in significant trouble.
Yet Joshua never looked in much bother himself. One of the oldest adages in boxing is that a good big one usually beats a good little one. Despite Parker’s best efforts, that old the rule proved as robust as ever.
Joshua leaves Cardiff with the confidence of knowing that he can do 12 rounds – even though his future opponents will note that he was breathing heavily during the middle rounds.
The only frustration is that with Wilder refusing to play ball, and Tyson Fury yet to return to the ring after his well-publicised problems Joshua will take longer than he would like to confirm his dominance over the heavyweight division. Yet, 21 fights into his career, he continues to barely put a foot wrong.