I’ve fought Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder… but Andy Ruiz Jr left more of an impression
JOSEPH PARKER has fought Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder – but punches from another ex-world champion lives longer in the memory.
Parker beat Deontay Wilder on points in the American’s comeback bout in December 2023.
He then beat Zhilei Zhang in March and now challenges for Daniel Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title on February 22.
Parker formerly held the WBO title but lost it against Joshua in 2018.
It came two years after he won it after beating Andy Ruiz Jr – whose hand speed and power still sticks in Parker’s mind today.
He told talkSPORT: “Joe Joyce dropped me, Dillian Whyte dropped me, Zhilei Zhang dropped me but the one that really left an impression was Andy Ruiz.
“Just because of the speed that he punches with, it shook me up. I was able to recover but he hit very hard.
“All of those guys hit hard but Ruiz stood out.”
Parker beat Ruiz via majority-decision to win the vacant WBO belt.
But he lost the strap two years later in a unification bout against AJ, who was then stunned by Ruiz in 2019 before winning the rematch.
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Joshua, 35, was most recently knocked out by Dubois, 27, in September and decided against taking the immediate rematch.
Parker, 32, instead accepted setting up his chance to become a two-time champion.
Wilder, 38, meanwhile was also KOd by Zhang, 41, in June but looks set to announce a comeback this year.