When Joseph Parker became world champion, four weeks before his 25th birthday, he could not have imagined what would follow: neither the floor falling out from beneath him, 18 months into his title reign, nor that he would spend six years in the void below.
That aching residency began with Parker’s title loss to Anthony Joshua in 2018, and his subsequent defeat by Dillian Whyte. Even as Parker strung together five victories, including back-to-back wins over Derek Chisora, the platform he once stood upon was just coming back into view – still floating tantalisingly above him. At that exact point, along came Joe Joyce to kick the New Zealander back into the darker depths. By then, in late 2022, Parker’s career rebuild must have felt like a Sisyphean task.
