It was supposed to be a clash with Eric Molina, Joseph Parker getting into it on his first Matchroom Boxing card with a scrap against a fella who has fought (and lost) to both Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Not the toughest opponent of his career but a respectable one, a solid win for the resume as he looks to build himself back into contention under his new promoters.

They’ve been pretty low-key times for Joseph Parker lately. Even the biggest bit of news in ages for him, the revelation that he’d signed a promotion deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, was swiftly overshadowed by one of his new label-mates getting flogged in the wildest upset in heavyweight boxing arguably since way back when.

Really, this one was never in doubt. Joseph Parker was always expected to win against Alexander Flores, probably not as easy as he ended up doing but you know what I mean.

The comeback begins on December 15 in Christchurch against Alexander "The Great" Flores. 28 years old, of Mexican heritage but born in and based out of the United States, with a 17-1-1 record including 15 KOs.

Finding opponents is the easy part. It’s finding opponents that match Duco’s vision for where Parker now stands and how marketable he should be that might be tricky, depending on how realistic their view of those things are.

Whyte was able to get into the fight after a slow first because he was able to throw heavy counter punches and force Parker to slow down to a more relatable pace. But when Parker needed to alter the flow of the fight he just couldn’t manage it.

Someone ring up Bob Arum and check if he’s doing okay. Might wanna send Bryant Jennings a care package while you’re at it too. Literally a day after those two were talking publically about a matchup with Joseph Parker like it’s all done and dusted, Parker has rocked up in London instead where he’s announced he’ll take on Dillian Whyte on July 28.

It’s been a few minutes since we last heard from Joseph Parker. After suffering his first defeat as a professional, that commendable but comfortable unanimous decision loss to Anthony Joshua at the end of March, Smokin’ Joe’s been keeping it very much on the down low.

Jokers in the respectful sense, that is. There are no muppets at the very top of the heavyweight division, despite what Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder might make a few of them look like, and there are always plenty of willing scrappers out there.

The judges scored it 118-100, 118-110 and 119-109 which is probably more skewed than it needed to be but nobody’s gonna argue that the judges gave him a raw deal on the result. AJ was too good. He was better on the day. Parker said so himself.

It’s so close now you can almost smell it. The squeak of the canvas, the thump of the gloves as they pound against flesh and bone. The roar of the crowd. Anthony Joshua against Joseph Parker at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in front of 80,000 people and millions more watching on television.

Late in the seventh round of their heavyweight title fight, Luis Ortiz had Deontay Wilder on the ropes. Having sort of slumbered through the first few rounds, Wilder had stepped it up by dropping Ortiz in the fifth but late in the seventh he got rocked.

Joseph Parker will fight Anthony Joshua in Cardiff on March 31st, so April 1 in Aotearoa, with the IBF, WBA and WBO Heavyweight World Championship belts on the line. The formalities have been confirmed and the fight is officially happening.

Prepare yourself for a massive heavyweight slug-fest. The boxing world will be watching with fascination, the boxing media will be dangling on a string. And hopefully once David Higgins and Eddie Hearn are done with all that...

Hey remember Carlos Takam? Remember when he fought Joseph Parker that time? Remember? It was Joe’s first major step up in opponents and also the fight that earned him the interim title shot against Andy Ruiz later on in 2016.

The biggest irony of this whole fight was that the referee who David Higgins was so annoyed at the appointment of and old mate Terry O’Connor, in his alternate judging duties, went and scored the fight 118-110 to Joseph Parker.

A funny thing happened at the latest Parker-Fury shindig. David Higgins stormed the stage at a press conference complaining about neutral referees and what not, before getting thrown out by security.

It wouldn’t be right if there was a Joseph Parker fight imminent and Duco weren’t making headlines by complaining about something. This time old mate Dave Higgins has got the refereeing appointment in his scope.

Joseph Parker’s heavyweight title fight against Hughie Fury is gonna be shown live of YouTube, cool. We’re less than three weeks out from that bout – September 24 in NZT – so it’s about time they sorted out a broadcaster