Boxing: Parker planning dramatic ring announcement with US heavyweight Wilder

New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker during a training session in Auckland. Photo / photosport.nz

Joseph Parker has had a 15-minute meeting with world champion heavyweight rival Deontay Wilder and plans to make a dramatic ring entrance in Alabama tomorrow following the American's title defence.

An insider has told the Herald on Sunday that Kiwi heavyweight Parker, who holds the WBO version of the title, intends to announce that he wants to "team up" with Wilder, who holds the WBC belt and is expected to retain it against fellow American Gerald Washington, and take out Britain's fighters "one by one so together they can rejuventate the American heavyweight boxing scene".

Parker will soon begin the defence of his title with a clash against Hughie Fury, a fight locked in today when Frank Warren, the Englishman's promoter, announced the contract had been signed.

Originally planned for April 1, Fury's delay in signing meant that date was lost and Parker's trainer Kevin Barry told ESPN the fight was now likely to take place on May 6. The venue of the fight is yet to be announced but it is almost certainly going to be at Auckland's Vector Arena, where Parker claimed his title by beating Andy Ruiz Jr last December.

Tomorrow in front of a worldwide television audience focused on the ring in Birmingham, Alabama, Parker will invite Wilder to travel to Auckland to watch his fight against Fury.

It is a stunt aimed at catching the imagination of boxing fans in England and the United States, and perhaps highlights the influence Parker has among the world's top heavyweights. It is significant that Parker and Wilder have met to plan the ring announcement.

Wilder is a tall, powerful puncher who is undefeated after 37 professional fights but has yet to break through in terms of his profile. He has won 36 of his fights by knockout but has yet to face a true test in the ring.

Both Parker, 25, and Wilder lag behind British sensation Anthony Joshua in the boxing public's conciousness.

Joshua is the IBF champion who will take on former champion Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in front of an expected crowd of 90,000 on April 29.

Should Parker and Wilder remain undefeated, and the Parker camp have made no secret of the fact they are targeting Joshua in the near future, then a showdown between the Kiwi and Wilder on US soil would generate a massive audience and revenue.

"Wilder is a great champion [and] Joshua is there," Parker told ESPN. "It's going to be a hard task because these guys are giants and they have the power and are good fighters.

"But it's about time champions start facing each other and seeing who's the best in the world."

Parker, who is already guaranteed a purse of more than $2 million for his fight against Fury, expressed his satisfaction that the clash had been confirmed.

"Now we have an opponent locked in and I actually have something to train towards and aim towards, we can start camp seriously," Parker said. "[Fury] has got an undefeated record and he's a young fighter who I think is hungry, but I don't think his opposition has been the best and the style that he brings would be a different kind of style than I've seen.

"I think I'd be a heavy favorite, but I can't underestimate anyone. I just have to go in there and treat him like a champion."

Tomorrow's Wilder v Washington fight is also significant for the fact that Parker's friend and stablemate Izu Ugonoh will be fighting on the undercard - against American Dominic Breazeale, a man soundly beaten by Joshua.

It will be heavyweight Ugonoh's first fight under his new promoter Al Haymon.

Also fighting on the undercard is New Zealand heavyweight Junior Fa. It will be Fa's first fight under new promoter Lou Di Bella, who happens to be Wilder's handler.