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Former heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker has become the surprising king of boxing call-outs after posting an amusing video aimed at Anthony Joshua.
Parker, the current WBO interim champion, uploaded a parody music video to his social media channels on Wednesday with the caption, “Let’s build a LEGO ring for Parker v Joshua 2’ over Ed Sheeran’s Lego House song.
The video is a combination of montage footage from his first fight with Joshua – when AJ defeated Parker in a unified world title clash in March 2018 – and his recent bouts against Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder, and Parker doing arts and crafts in his house while lip-synching the lyrics.
Parker, generally known to be a more quiet and reserved character, is even seen doing the iconic Napoleon Dynamite dance.
The video has received hundreds of comments on Instagram, with former world champion Darren Barker replying with “So good”, another user describing it as “genius”, and many replies with laughing face emojis.
‘World Class’ Call Out
It has also caught the attention of Team Joshua, with AJ’s trainer Ben Davison replying with the eyes emojis.
The video comes just four days after Parker uploaded another funny call-out video aimed at another former rival, Dillian Whyte.
In the earlier video, captioned “I want you back for good Dillian Whyte,” Parker stars in another parody music video over Take That’s Back For Good. Like the Joshua video, it includes highlights from the New Zealander’s epic 12-round war against Whyte in July 2018, and features some of Parker’s friends as lip synching back-up singers.
That Whyte video has generated more than 2,600 comments – again from many figures within the boxing world, including Tyson Fury’s wife Paris, who wrote, “haha go Joe,” and Shane Mosley Jr, who posted, “Champ!! This is World class! He has to come back now!”
It demonstrates Parker’s remarkable revival that he can legitimately call out Joshua and Parker having lost to both fighters back-to-back six years ago.
Parker Back In Title Contention
The New Zealander’s career looked uncertain when, after bouncing back from the defeat to Whyte with six wins over low-level opposition, he was beaten by Joe Joyce in September 2022.
Since the 11th-round loss to the ‘Juggernaut’, Parker has gone on a five-fight win streak, including a 12-round demolition of former WBC champion Deontay Wilder and a split decision victory over Zhang to become the WBO interim title holder.
It has put Parker back in prime position to fight for a world title, but much of that will depend on the outcome of Fury’s undisputed showdown with Oleksander Usyk in Saudi Arabia on May 18.
If Fury wins and claims all the belts, he has already said he would never fight close friend Parker. If the rematch, expected to take place in October, goes to Usyk, then it could set up a WBO mandatory title defense against Parker in early 2025.
All of that is circumstantial for now, and out of the two call-outs, a rematch with Whyte would seem the most likely. The British fighter is making his way back after a provisional suspension for a failed drug test; he was cleared by the authorities, who agreed that he unwittingly took a contaminated supplement.
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