An all-Kiwi heavyweight clash goes down on Saturday, Feb. 27, as former WBO champion Joseph Parker meets Junior Fa at the Auckland's Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, live and exclusively on DAZN in the United States.
Initially, Parker and Fa were set to meet on Dec. 11, but the latter heavyweight had to bow out after blood tests revealed that he had a health issue that required surgery.
After losing his belt to Anthony Joshua and his subsequent bout against Dillian Whyte, Parker (27-2, 21 KOs), a native of New Zealand, won three consecutive fights, with all of them coming via stoppage. Most recently, Parker stopped Shawndell Winters in the fifth round of the Mikey Garcia-Jessie Vargas undercard in February. Despite the fact that it will be nearly one year between fights, the 28-year-old Parker is looking to get back in there and settle who is the king of the Kiwis, while making another run at the gold.
"We'd been working really hard to ensure I peaked in December and delivered a performance that would have made the heavyweight division sit up and take notice," Parker said in a press release. "So it was very disappointing when Junior had to postpone. But these things happen in boxing. The good thing is that Junior is now on track to be 100 percent fit and ready to go in February. I wouldn't want it any other way."
Fa (19-0, 10 KOs), a native of Australia, enters the biggest bout of his career, having not fought since a unanimous decision win over Devin Vargas in November 2019. He's looking to put the past health issues behind him. Fa believes a win over Parker gets himself in prime position for his first-ever title shot.
"It is never ideal when these things happen," Fa said. "However, I'm happy and relieved to confirm I'm now well and truly back on track. I've been looking forward to this fight for a long time now, so to once again have a date locked in is great. Joseph Parker has held a world title before, so when I beat him, I'll be a giant step closer to realizing my own dream."