Joseph's Parker resurgence continued on Friday night in Riyadh with a majority decision win over the dangerous Zhilei Zhang.
Ahead of the opening bell, there were some concerns as to whether Parker could withstand Zhang's power after he managed to register two successive wins over Joe Joyce last year.
But while Zhang showcased his power once again in this fight, it was the rest of his boxing game which was lacking.
In the opening stages, Parker adopted the right strategy and used his jab to keep Zhang at a safe distance. However, anyone who comes up against Zhang needs to be wary that "Big Bang's" power can come out of nowhere and that was case in round three when a stiff left hand floored Parker.
It looked like this would give Zhang the inspiration he needed to increase the pressure and take advantage of a shaken Parker. What transpired on the other hand was the opposite.
Parker increased his work rate and landed frequently, while Zhang began to show signs of tiredness and as the fight progressed, the rounds were slowly slipping through his grasp.
Zhang did manage to remind Parker about his power when he scored a second knock down in the eighth with a right hook, but this was not enough as Parker continued to frustrate Zhang and controlled the contest until the final bell.
It was a heavyweight contest which failed to live up to expectations, but the correct result was reached with two judges scoring the fight 114-112 and 115-111 in Parker's favour, while the third scored it a 113-113 draw and saw the New Zealander crowned the new WBO interim world heavyweight champion.
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