Joshua vs. Parker full results and highlights

Anthony Joshua went a full 12 rounds with Joseph Parker and came out the other end the unified heavyweight champion.

Anthony Joshua went the distance for the first time in his career, but he prevailed in a 12-round unanimous decision win over Joseph Parker on Saturday. The scorecards gave him a 118-110, 118-110, 119-109, though the fight was realistically much closer than that, as Parker looked a lot better than he has in recent majority decision wins.

Joshua now holds the IBF, WBA (Super) and IBO heayvweight belts that he came into the fight with, but also Parker’s WBO heavyweight belt. That means only the WBC title is out there on somebody else’s waist, belonging to Deontay Wilder, who many want Joshua to fight next.

Parker utilized his movement well, and he was much more defensively-sound than he has been in recent showings. But Joshua was rarely in trouble, and he was more composed. He kept himself in front of Parker, and landed the jab quite well. He controlled the fight with the jab, though Parker probably won some of the middle rounds by being more active. He connected with a nice jab of his own and worked the body well.

But ultimately, Joshua was simply more composed, more accurate, and he took another belt.

The featured undercard bout saw Alexander Povetkin and David Price combine for a short but exciting heavyweight bout. It was seen as a showcase match for Povetkin, who was heavily favored against Price and was seen as a potential next opponent for the winner of Saturday’s main event.

Price fared better than expected, even stunning Povetkin early, but was ultimately knocked out in the fourth. We’ll see what happens with Joshua next, but he said he wanted Wilder in the post-fight interview.

Below is the round-by-round recap as it happened, and below that is the full list of results from Saturday’s card.

Anthony Joshua def. Joseph Parker via unanimous decision 118-110, 118-110, 119-109

Round 1: And here we go! Joshua takes the center of the ring right away. Parker wants to fire early, and he keeps his lead hand out there, trying to get the jab working. Joshua lands a nice left jab, and continues blocking Parker’s. Joshua connects with another left jab, followed by a right to the body. Parker circles, and is now in reaction mode, trying to keep himself away from the ropes. Short left hook from Joshua lands as Parker tries to get around him. The round comes to an end — Parker threw more shots, but none of them really landed. Joshua got him backing up whenever he wanted.

Round 2: Parker trying to change levels early, but Joshua is always just out of range for the lunging body shots. Big left jab from Joshua lands. Left to the body by Parker. They tie up, and are separated Joshua barely swims away from a big left hook. Parker connects with a short left hook a bit later. Parker landed a few jabs, and the round comes to an end.

Round 3: Left jab to the jaw and then the body lands from Joshua. Parker wings a big right hook that misses. Left to the body from Parker. Joshua throws a feint, gets the reaction he wanted, and manages to land two big hooks before Parker can circle away. Parker tries to respond right away, and eats a short uppercut from Joshua as they tie up and are separated by the referee. Joshua gets Parker to the ropes again, but Parker again ties up, forcing the referee in. They are warned for a potential head clash. The round, definitely Joshua’s, ends.

Round 4: Big right over the top from Joshua with Parker against the ropes. Parker shoots in with a hard, straight left, but eats a clean left jab from Joshua for his troubles. Joshua continues to get Parker fighting off his back foot, and he’s not eating anything as a result. Parker is competitive, but he can’t land anything. They tie up and are separated. Parker lands a nice jab to the body. Joshua connects with a jab as the fourth round closes.

Round 5: Big, big left hook from Joshua that staggers Parker at the start of this round. It was a short feint jab that turned into a hook and it caught Parker sleeping. Parker is trying hard to chase down Joshua and get him out of position, and they tie up twice. Both land good jabs over the top. Parker connects with a nice one-two and just barely moves away from a massive counter left from Joshua. Big overhand right just misses from Joshua. Close round, and it was probably Parker’s best of the night!

Round 6: Parker connects with a right hand early, but Parker stuns him with a counter shot and they get into a sloppy brawl, a very sloppy brawl against the ropes, and the referee has to break it up as they were starting to get tied up. Joshua is mad, very mad, and he connects with a nice right hook over the top. Parker lands a nice left to the body. Right jab from Joshua and a counter right uppercut from Parker also connects. Defense has gone out the window in this round! They tie up multiple times, and are separated. Joshua dodges a big stepping hook from Parker, and comes forward with a counter right to the head, then a body shot. This was Parker’s round early, but Joshua has fully recovered and is in control as it nears the end. Body shot from Joshua, and an exciting round ends.

Round 7: We’re into the second half of the fight. This round starts a lot slower than the last two. They tie up, and are separated. Short left lands from Joshua, and Parker dodges the follow-up. They tie up, and Parker throws some huge body shots while Joshua seemed to be preparing for the referee to separate them, and nearly takes Parker’s head off with an uppercut that just missed and would have been very controversial had it landed. They tie up multiple times and the referee continues to step in. It feels like the referee is perhaps getting a little too involved in this one.

Round 8: Left jab from Joshua connects. Parker keeps tying up with him, four times in the first minute of the round. Jab to the body from Joshua, and a nice jab from Parker in response. Left hand from Joshua lands big, and the follow-up right hook connects and Parker is stunned. Joshua follows up and the referee ... stops the action again? Joshua continues walking Parker down and landing nice jabs, but the pace keeps being slowed by the referee. I really don’t have any idea what he’s doing, but both fighters have been robbed of opportunities.

Round 9: This round is a bit slower than the rest before it, with more of the same — Parker trying to move with his speed, tying up plenty, and Joshua calmly walking him down with his own jabs. Nobody landed anything really good in this round, hard to call it either way.

Round 10: Joshua comes in fast and gets Parker against the ropes. Parker lands a nice jab to the body, but he looks like he’s slowing down. Joshua lands the right hook. He really wants to connect with the big uppercut, and he’s just missed with three of them through two minutes. Parker has a cut over his left eye. Parker had virtually no offense in the round.

Round 11: Left jab from Joshua lands. Parker goes to to the body with a short jab combo. Joshua clips Parker with a right near the end that stuns him, and Parker is walking backward. Left uppercut from Joshua just misses. Right hook to the body from Parker near the end did some damage to Joshua.

Round 12: Left hook to the body from Joshua. Left jab to the face lands, and Parker misses the counter. Left hook from Parker lands when Joshua comes in with his own left that misses. Left to the body from Joshua. Left jab from Parker lands. Big left jab from Joshua, right hook to the body lands. Windmilling right hand from Parker misses. Nice right uppercut to the body from Parker. Right uppercut from Joshua as the referee again gets involved with just 10 seconds left, he probably should have just let it go. It’s probably Joshua’s fight, at least on my card, but Parker was very active in the middle rounds.

Main Event

Heayweight: Anthony Joshua def. Joseph Parkervia unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110, 119-109)

Undercard

Heavyweight: Alexander Povetkin def. David Price via KO
Bantamweight: Ryan Burnett def. Yonfrez Parejo via decision
Lightweight: Anthony Crolla def. Edson Ramiez via decision
Lightweight: Joe Cordina def. Hakim Ben Ali via TKO
Welterweight: Josh Kelly def. Carlos Molina via decision
Light heavyweight: Joshua Buatsi def. Bartlomiej Grafka via decision
Super middleweight: Mose Auimatagi Jr. def. Morgan Jones via TKO