Joseph Parker was hoping to send a statement to the other titleholders in the division, but produced a so-so performance?
Saturday night at the Vodafone Events Centre in Aukland, New Zealand, WBO World heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (23-0, 18 KOs), from Las Vegas, Nevada, by way of Aukland, New Zealand, successfully defended his title by outpointing former sparring partner Razvan Cojanu (16-3, 9 KOs), from Burbank, California, by way of Voinesti, Romania, after 12 rounds of action.
The final scores were 119-108 and 117-110 twice.
Cojanu took the fight on two week?s notice after Hughie Fury pulled out with an injury. Parker was hoping to send a statement to the other titleholders in the division, but produced a so-so performance against a man he hoped to stop.
At 6-feet-7-inches and weighing 29 pounds more than the champ, Cojanu took everything Parker had to offer while hamming it up before the crowd.
?What a fight,? said Parker after the final bell. ?I guess you can all see why we bring Razvan into camp with us. We look for the best, to prepare for the fights we have.
?I?d like to thank Razavan for coming down and putting on a great fight.?
Not everyone is sold on Parker and tonight?s performance may have reinforced those doubts.
?I told everyone, when you wrote Razvan off, that this would be a harder fight than Hughie Fury,? said Parker?s trainer Kevin Barry.
?We have sparred 100 rounds with this guy, we know how tough he is, and he is a very proud man, as you can see today. We knew it would be a tough fight.
?When I realized it was going to take us a while to break him down, I said to Joe, ?Just be patient. Raz is fighting the fight of his life, don?t help him get lucky.
?It only takes one punch to change the championship.?
That one punch never came. The title did not change hands.
It?s fair to assume that Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder are licking their chops.
