When the first round was over at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau last Saturday, the crowd knew that, even in victory, Joseph Parker had already failed.
With the eyes of the heavyweight boxing on him, Parker—the reigning WBO world champion and hometown hero—needed to dispatch Romanian lump Razvan Cojanu quickly and comprehensively.
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He couldn’t. Parker and Cojanu—who’d taken the fight on less than two weeks notice after Brit Hughie Fury mysteriously dropped out last minute—dragged the bout on for eleven more rounds.
The Kiwi, of course, won in a unanimous decision—but that wasn’t the point. The week before, Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko had produced a heavyweight epic in London. Now, Parker needed a statement. The boxing world—particularly the big promoters and opponents in the UK where the fight was broadcast live—didn’t get it.
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