Fast rising heavyweight contender Joseph Parker 15(13)-0 has just announced his next opponent as fellow countryman Kali Meehan 42(32)-5. Parker in keeping with the busy schedule laid down by his team last year is lining up the well respected Meehan as his 4th opponent of 2015 with another fight set to follow in December as well as a potential bout in Samoa tentatively pencilled in for late January next year.
Meehan an 18 year veteran and former world title challenger, who still commands a respectable Boxrec ranking of twenty nine, marks a jump in competition for Parker who will be looking to see if he can keep his recent impressive knockout streak going.
Parker insists he won’t be overlooking Meehan though, ‘we’ve put down a lot of hard training in the camps. We’re prepared to go twelve and we’re prepared to go one, we just have to be careful to not get caught with anything. He’s a New Zealander as well so I’m sure he’s got a lot of drive to make sure he puts in a good performance in front of this crowd. He’s got the time to prepare well and when it comes to fighting there will be no excuses.’ If he comes prepared and ready one punch can change everything.’
Meehan unsurprisingly disagrees. ‘He (Parker) has done everything he’s supposed to do and they’ve matched him very well. But with no disrespect to his previous opponents this is his first real test. I’ve been in 47 fights and millions of rounds of sparring. I’ve been in the ring with strong people, tall people, short people, all kinds, there is nothing I haven’t seen before. That’s why I say every fight is my last fight and I’m going to give it my all. If we die in there we die in there, God willing we won’t. The question is can you handle what you dish out?’
Just under 12 months ago Kali Meehan turned back the clock to post a dominant points victory over New Zealand’s former number ranked heavyweight Shane Cameron. However this is an assignment of a very different magnitude, facing a young prospect that may just to possess the fastest hands in the division with power to match. You’d think the veteran’s best chance is to take the younger Parker into the deep waters of the later rounds and drown him. But can he do it?
Joseph Parker faces Kali Meehan at the Trust Arena Auckland on October 15th.
