Joe Joyce scores huge 11th round KO over Joseph Parker

Joe Joyce proves he is an elite heavyweight by knocking out Joesph Parker.

The heavyweights headlined the event in Manchester, U.K, as the undefeated Joe Joyce (15-0) went up against Joseph Parker (30-3). In what was a brutal heavyweight clash for the interim WBO title, Joyce placed the exclamation point by landing a crushing left hook and scoring to knockout victory in the eleventh round.

In the first round, Joyce started a little quicker than normal as he pumped the left jab in order to establish distance. Parker used his feet to move around Joyce and get him to chase while changing the rhythm of the round. In the second, an overhand right by Joyce caught Parker’s attention, but in return, Parker landed a clean left hook. Joyce was landing the bigger punches, but Parker was moving around and trying to get in position to land on Joyce.

Round three started off fast for Joyce as he landed a flurry of punches that was initiated by the left jab, which had Parker stunned. His nose was bleeding, and Parker was leaning on the ropes, but towards the end of the round, he came back and landed a hard right uppercut on Joyce right before the sound of the bell. Rounds four and five showed Joyce smothering Parker and zapping his energy with hard body shots. You could tell that those body shots were affecting Parker more and more with each round that went by.

Joe Joyce knocks out Joesph Parker to capture the Interim WBO heavyweight championship.

Joyce was brilliant about his attack as he was changing the levels of his punches which had Parker guessing the whole fight. Joyce saw continued success in round six, but in the seventh, he opened Parker’s right eye with a big left hook. But just when you thought he was done, here comes Parker with a warrior’s heart, throwing hard punches back and looking to stay competitive.

In the eighth, Joyce continued with the pressure and felt as if he could possibly get Parker out of there with a stoppage. Joyce’s long overhand right kept landing flush, but the body punches kept wearing down Parker. Although hurt, Parker kept coming forward, showing his championship pedigree. After a less-than-exciting round nine, in the 10th, Parker came back towards the end of the round, which seemed as if he stole it on the scorecards.

In the 11th, Parker was coming in with a punch, and Joyce slightly feinted and stepped into a crushing left hook which sent Parker to the canvas, but he could not get up by the referee’s ten count. Joyce is now the WBO interim heavyweight champion and looks to get a title shot toward the end of next year.