For a time, Deontay Wilder felt like the busted flush of the heavyweight division.
Beaten twice by Tyson Fury – the second of which came over two years ago – he has fought just once since, against Robert Helenius, Anthony Joshua’s last opponent.
Wilder, though, has forced his way back into the public reckoning, crediting a trip to Costa Rica and the use of a psychedelic drug to get him back on track, mentally at least.
For his first fight in over a year, Joseph Parker is a potentially tricky opponent, not least of all because Fury knows how to beat Wilder and has been part of the New Zealander’s preparation camp.
Quite how much insight he’s been able to give behind closed doors remains to be seen, but the Gypsy King’s public pronouncements have been for Parker to simply avoid the Wilder right hand and then all will be fine. That’s easier said than achieved.
Wilder appears to have approached this fight in rather more serene fashion than usual. Maybe age – he’s now 38 – has mellowed him.
Either way, there have been none of the usual outbursts nor threats to kill. Instead, he has pledged to do his talking in the ring.
“Just to be a part of this card with so many great fighters is amazing,” he said. “This is a one of a kind card.
"Everyone loves to see heavyweights and they love to see knockouts. And they got the right man on the card for this job. I’m definitely coming to do what I do best.”
Facing Parker is an audition of sorts for the greater riches and spotlight that lie ahead with a proposed double-header against Anthony Joshua – the exact details for which still need to be finalised but with fight one scheduled for March.
For Parker’s part, he believes he can deliver the knockout blow and not add a fourth career defeat to the ones inflicted by Joshua, Dillian Whyte and, most recently, Joe Joyce.
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“I fight the best in the world every time,” said the Kiwi. “This is a tough test but I know I can knock him out 100 per cent.”
