Forget big-money Saudi-inspired fight trailers, forget April Fool’s jokes, Joseph Parker is boxing’s undisputed social media king.
The Kiwi former world heavyweight champion broke the internet on Monday with an absolutely genius callout video to fellow big man Dillian Whyte.
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Some six years ago – in July 2018 – Parker and Whyte fought out a gripping heavyweight showdown at London’s O2 Arena. Eventually Whyte would prevail by unanimous decision after an absolute thriller.
Joseph Parker, as Gary Barlow
Now Joseph clearly wants a rematch, so much so that he released a sensational callout video Monday – a brilliant skit on the 1995 Take That classic ‘Back For Good’. You can watch it all by clicking on the embed at the bottom of this article.
It features Joe taking on the Gary Barlow role and lip syncing the pop best seller, accompanied by his team. He even dresses like Barlow for the closing moments.
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Parker’s perfectly-produced clip included footage from that Whyte/Parker blockbuster of six years ago, and it drew rave reviews from notoriously critical boxing fans on social media.
The Parker video might also be the clearest sign yet that a rematch vs Zhilei Zhang may not be happening just yet. Remember the Chinese giant had a one-way rematch clause in the contract for that fight he lost to the Kiwi in Riyadh last month.
No Zhang rematch yet?
The speculation now is that Zhang will instead meet Deontay Wilder on that Eddie Hearn vs Frank Warren megashow on June 1, again in Riyadh.
If Zhang vs Wilder does happen, it would leave WBO mandatory contender Parker without an immediate dance partner, and Whyte would make a ton of sense.
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‘The Body Snatcher’ made his ring return last month against Christian Hammer, while Parker’s stock has never been higher after impressive back-to-back wins over Wilder and Zhang.
For now though, just take a step back, watch the callout video, let your inner Take That return and wonder in the best bit of social media content boxing has produced in a long, long time.
Joseph Parker (and producer Kerry Russell), we salute you.
