Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker bought again to successful methods however was made to work as he claimed a ten-round determination over Jack Massey within the Manchester enviornment the place he was stopped by Joe Joyce in his earlier combat.
The combat was a giant step up for Massey, who had boxed beforehand as a cruiserweight, the place he had held an IBO title, however he managed to frustrate Parker with out ever actually threatening to beat him on the Eubank-Smith undercard.
It was a unanimous determination – Victor Loughlin scored it 97-92, Howard Foster went 97-93, whereas Phil Edwards had it 96-93, which appeared a bit shut.
Parker, 31, who’s now based mostly as a part of Tyson Fury’s camp in Morecambe, the place he’s skilled by Andy Lee, appeared content material with the night time’s work.
“We knew Jack Massey was going to come back ready and prepared and he placed on a great efficiency,” Parker mentioned. “He was shifting lots, which made it a bit troublesome, but when he got here ahead it will have been a unique combat, however congratulations to Jack for taking me the ten rounds.”
Massey was cautious on the opening bell, backing away and seeking to maintain and smother Parker. Halfway by way of the primary, Massey landed a good proper, though Parker countered with a left, however in the principle Parker was following Massey round.
It was the identical sample within the second and third, when Parker landed a great proper hook up shut as Massey backed into the ropes. He repeated the trick within the fourth, though there have been indicators that Massey was being a bit extra lively.
There have been indicators within the fifth spherical that the load of Parker’s punches had been taking their toll, as two onerous rights had an affect, though Massey completed the spherical with a great flurry and landed a good proper at the beginning of the sixth. Parker hammered again with a giant uppercut, however Massey nonetheless seemed to assault and was not letting Parker have his personal approach.
There have been indicators of frustration from Parker within the seventh and eighth rounds and the motion was scrappy. Massey was getting on prime within the eighth spherical, as he peppered Parker with pictures, touchdown a good proper hand. However Massey was then docked some extent for persistent holding by referee Darren Sarjinson and Parker landed a great proper on the bell.
Within the ultimate spherical, Massey suffered a nasty reduce over his left eye and he was then rocked by a proper uppercut, however he held on. Massey had one ultimate go within the ultimate ten seconds of the spherical, however he lacked the ability to actually bother Parker.
Lee mentioned there have been nonetheless enhancements to come back from Parker. “Extra of every part,” Lee mentioned. “Decide up on every part – ft, head, sharper with every part. I feel he’s simply starting once more, it’s a rebuilding course of and the ten rounds will do him good.
“It is extremely troublesome to look good in opposition to somebody who’s being so unfavorable, they’re the toughest opponents to look good in opposition to.”
Ron Lewis is a senior author for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Instances, the place he labored from 2001-2019 – masking 4 Olympic Video games and quite a few world title fights throughout the globe. He has written about boxing for all kinds of publications worldwide because the Nineteen Eighties.