Joseph Parker

Joseph Dennis Parker, (born 9 January 1992) is a New Zealand professional boxer. He held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the WBO Oriental, Africa, and Oceania titles; as well as the PABA, OPBF, and New Zealand titles. As an amateur, he represented New Zealand at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the super-heavyweight division, and narrowly missed qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Parker turned professional in July 2012 with Duco Events in Auckland, under the tutelage of Sir Bob Jones. After defeating Andy Ruiz for the vacant WBO title, Parker became the first heavyweight boxer from either New Zealand or the Pacific Islands to win a major world championship. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's fifth best active heavyweight by The Ring magazine, sixth by BoxRec and ninth best by TBRB. During his reign as WBO champion, he reached a peak active heavyweight ranking of third by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. Early life Joseph Parker was born in South Auckland on 9 January 1992, to Dempsey and Sala Parker. His father Dempsey was named after world heavyweight champion American boxer Jack Dempsey. Parker grew up in the large suburb of Māngere in Auckland, and attended Marcellin College in the suburb of Hillsborough. At the age of three, he enjoyed jabbing into his father's palms and while he was still a young boy Dempsey gave him boxing gloves and a punching bag. When he was ten years old, he joined the Papatoetoe Boxing Club to pursue and learn more about the sport. He was trained by Grant Arkell and former boxer Manny Santos. When Parker was growing up, he admired David Tua and Maselino Masoe who were from the same area as him. Parker is the middle child; he has one older sister, Elizabeth, and a younger brother, John, who is currently a professional boxer. He is of predominantly Samoan descent, with his ancestry roots going back to the Faleula Village on the main island of Upolu where his mother hails from. Both of his parents migrated to New Zealand from Samoa in the early 1980s. Parker also comes from a religious family, belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.