Joseph Parker Beats Hughie Fury In Sloppy Bout

WBO Heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and Hughie Fury took almost an eternity to finally get in the ring with each other, but neither man was able to claim victory as the two fought in an uneventful bout in Manchester. Two scores of 118-110 overrode a more appropriate 114-114 card in which neither fighter did much of anything.

The majority of their bout had the light-hitting and not as talented younger brother of controversial ex-champ Tyson Fury perpetually on his back foot trying to win the fight off of his jab and movement while a frustrated Parker sought to outwork the passive challenger throughout their bout. Parker charged forward to land whatever he could, but Fury would tie him up in the middle of his overly wild punches to bring whatever action to a brief halt. In the fourth, Parker landed the biggest shot of the night when a headbutt left a small cut over Fury’s eye, but not big enough to influence the action one way or another.

The dreary bout and its conclusion essentially prolongs the reign of Parker, who did nothing to shake off the perception of being the division’s weakest link among the titleholders as he was unable to dispatch the untested Fury. As Anthony Joshua comes off of a huge win over Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder finally coming around to testing his mettle against Luis Ortiz, the undefeated Parker will continue to be on standby and continuing his reign as an invisible champion.