‘It's just words' – Joseph Parker opens up on chances of undisputed fight against winner of Usyk vs Dubois 2
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JOSEPH PARKER admits he's in the dark over his immediate fighting future, despite being the mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title.
The New Zealander has been the mandatory challenger for the prestigious brown belt held by Oleksandr Usyk for over a year.
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Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois will renew their rivalry on Saturday night for all the heavyweight marbles
Credit: GETTY
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Joseph Parker is the mandatory challenger for Usyk's WBO belt and in pole position to fight the winner of the Wembley war
Credit: GETTY
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But the New Zealander is in the dark over the possibility of fighting the winner of Usyk and Dubois' rematch
Credit: GETTY
Parker's position as the WBO mandatory has, seemingly, put him in pole position to fight the winner of Usyk's undisputed straightner with Daniel Dubois at Wembley on Saturday night
But after being snubbed by Usyk in favour of a rematch with Dubois, the 33-year-old is refusing to count his chickens.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, he said: "I know Frank Warren said a few things that I might be next to fight for undisputed unification.
"But there were no discussions. And for me, it's just words at the moment.
"It'd be nice to get something in writing and to get something solid. But at the moment, it's just words.
"If it can happen, I'll be extremely over the moon."
Usyk's fighting future is currently the talk of boxing fans, with many believing the 38-year-old could hang up his gloves this weekend.
The undefeated Ukrainian could, however, be tempted to stick around for a trilogy fight with rival Tyson Fury, who insists the pair are set to duke it out at Wembley next April.
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Parker would love to test himself against the best heavyweight of his generation before he walks away.
So much so that he tried to convince the fan favourite to share the ring with him before he calls it quits during a chance encounter at a bareknuckle boxing event in Florence in April.
'Doesn't make sense' - Joseph Parker has theory for Daniel Dubois' last-minute withdrawal as Brit gears up to face Usyk
He said: "I saw Uysk in Italy last week. And I walked up to him and said,' Hey, you got two fights left.
"'Why don't you fight Dubois and fight me?' He just laughed it off. He didn't really reply.
"And then now, I'm seeing that he's calling out Tyson and [Anthony] Joshua for his last fight in his career."
Former WBO champ Parker has a theory for why Usyk wasn't receptive to his face-to-face callout.
He said: "Maybe he's looking for the bigger and sort of financial-making fights. I'm not quite sure."
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