Notebook: After 2nd camp with trainer Lee, Parker confident for Chisora rematch

Berchelt re-signs with Top Rank; 'ShoBox' kicks off 2022 with new look; Quick hits; Show and tell

Dec 14, 2021

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When former heavyweight world titlist Joseph Parker edged Dereck Chisora by split decision on May 1, it was after Parker’s first training camp under the tutelage of trainer Andy Lee, the former middleweight world titlist and disciple of the late, great Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward.

Parker, who split with longtime trainer Kevin Barry in the months before the fight, was getting used to Lee’s training methods and admittedly did not have the best performance against former world title challenger Chisora.

Chisora dropped Parker with an overhand right in the opening seconds of the fight, although Parker went on to win 116-111 and 115-113 while one judge had it 115-113 for Chisora.

Parker and Chisora are set to meet in a 12-round rematch on Saturday (DAZN, 1 p.m. ET) at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, the same site as the first fight, and Parker is feeling more confident after several more months to mesh with Lee.

“The first fight wasn’t the longest camp together with Andy,” Parker said. “We were just getting to know each other and getting ready for the fight. A longer camp is more beneficial as I am understanding more what Andy is trying to teach me. We’ve worked so hard every day and I think that it’s really going to show on the night.

“Andy and I have been working on a lot of things in camp and the goal is to go in there and look better, and win but win well. I can say that I am going to be more dominant, more aggressive, and that sort of stuff, but I just want to go out there and fight and I will let my actions do the talking for me. I want the best Derek Chisora.

“I got a hard pressure fighter in the first fight with Derek and I think that he’ll be looking to make little adjustments to improve, so I am looking forward to what he’s going to bring. As long as I do what I can do it’s not going to go the distance, but I know he feels the same way.”

Parker (29-2, 21 KOs), 29, of New Zealand, said he is healthy going into the fight. He suffered a right elbow injury midway through the grueling first fight with Chisora (32-11, 23 KOs), 37, of England, and has previously had surgery on both elbows.

“There’s no issues for me in the build up with a great camp and injury free,” Parker said. “I like Derek and respect him, but this is not the time to be friends before the fight. I need to take care of business because my career is on the line here. He’s achieved a lot and I respect him, but that can wait until after the fight.”

Despite the knockdown and tough fight, Parker said the split decision was not the right call and that he clearly won.

“I think the result was right. I did enough to win,” he said. “It wasn’t the most dominant or best performance. It was a close fight but I believe I won it and it’s good to be able to run it back and to show the improvements I’ve made with Andy. It’s the first rematch of my career, so I am excited for that and I just want to go out and fight hard, beat him up and put on a better performance and win in better fashion.”

Parker has won five fights in a row since back-to-back losses in 2018 to Anthony Joshua in a title unification fight and Dillian Whyte. Chisora has dropped two decisions in a row to Parker and Oleksandr Usyk, but both fights were highly competitive.

Berchelt re-signs with Top Rank

Former WBC junior lightweight titleholder Miguel Berchelt on Monday signed a new co-promotional agreement with Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions, Top Rank announced.

Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs), 30, of Mexico, stopped Francisco Vargas in the 11th round in January 2017 to win the 130-pound title and made six successful defenses before losing the belt by one-sided 10th-round knockout in February to Oscar Valdez, who knocked him down three times.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef told Fight Freaks Unite that Berchelt will have his first fight under the new deal in the late first quarter of 2022 and will be moving up to the talent-rich lightweight division. He struggled badly to make weight for the fight with Valdez.

“Berchelt reigned for many years and was one of the most exciting world champions with that relentless Mexican warrior style,” duBoef said. “We are thrilled to continue with him on his journey as he campaigns at lightweight and looks to fight the biggest names of the division.”

Among those Berchelt defeated in title fights are Vargas (twice), Takashi Miura, Miguel Roman and Jason Sosa.

‘ShoBox’ kicks off 2022

Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” will kick off 2022 with a Sampson Boxing-promoted tripleheader with all six fighters being undefeated and a new look on Jan. 7 (10 p.m. ET/PT) at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Fla.

Featherweight Luis Nunez (15-0, 11), of the Dominican Republic, meets Puerto Rico’s Carlos Arrieta (14-0, 8 KOs) in the 10-round main event.

The other two fights are scheduled for eight-rounds: lightweight Starling Castillo (16-0, 12 KOs), of the Dominican Republic, versus Otar Eranosyan (10-0, 6 KOs), of the Republic of Georgia, and junior lightweight Edwin De Los Santos (13-0, 12 KOs), of the Dominican Republic, against William Foster III (12-0, 8 KOs), of New Haven, Connecticut.

They are a combined 80-0 with 57 knockouts. It marks the first time in its 20-plus year history of “ShoBox” that it has put on a tripleheader in which all six fighters enter their bouts with perfect records.

Joining the broadcast team will be veteran combat sports reporter Brian Campbell, who will serve as an analyst alongside two show veterans, analyst Raul Marquez and blow-by-blow man Barry Tompkins. Analyst Steve Farhood, who has been with the series since its debut, will remain a part of the broadcast team remotely.

“We are excited to kick off our 21st consecutive year in action with a prototypical ‘ShoBox’ card that features six undefeated fighters facing the most difficult challenges of their young careers,” said executive producer Gordon Hall. “We’re also excited to be adding the versatile combat sports reporter Brian Campbell to one of the best broadcast teams in boxing. Brian has shined in various roles during Showtime assignments over the past few years and we’re looking forward to adding him to the team.”

Quick hits

Weights from Tokyo for Tuesday’s world title doubleheader: Naoya Inoue 118 pounds, Aran Dipaen 117.5 (for Inoue’s IBF/WBA bantamweight title); Wilfredo Mendez 105, Masataka Taniguchi 105 (for Mendez’s WBO strawweight title).

Junior welterweight prospects Richardson Hitchins (12-0, 5 KOs), 24, a 2016 Haitian Olympian from Brooklyn, New York, and Malik Hawkins (18-1, 11 KOs), 25, of Baltimore, will meet in a 10-rounder Saturday on the FS1 portion (6 p.m. ET) of the Premier Boxing Champions on Fox card (8 p.m. ET) at The Armory in Minneapolis. Also on FS1, 2016 Dominican Olympian Hector Luis Garcia (13-0, 10 KOs), 30, faces Mexico’s Isaac Avelar (16-3, 10 KOs), 24, in an eight-round junior lightweight bout and light heavyweight Suray Mahmutovic (3-0, 3 KOs), 23, of Daly City, California, meets Pachino Hill (6-0, 5 KOs), 24, of Davenport, Iowa, in a four- or six-rounder. In the Fox man event, Cuba’s David Morrell Jr. (5-0, 4 KOs) defends his secondary super middleweight belt in his adopted hometown against Upper Marlboro, Maryland’s Alantez Fox (28-2-1, 13 KOs).

Heavyweight Tony Yoka (11-0, 9 KOs), 29, who won the 2016 Olympic super heavyweight gold medal for France, will face Martin Bakole (17-1, 13 KOs), 28, a Congo native fighting out of Scotland, on Jan. 15 (ESPN+) in Paris, Yoka and Bakole representative MTK Global announced via social media. Bakole has won six fights in a row since a 10th-round knockout loss to Michael Hunter in October 2018. Yoka had been set to meet former world title challenger and French countryman Carlos Takam (39-6-1, 28 KOs), 40, but Takam suffered a wrist injury and was forced to withdraw from the fight, Takam promoter Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing told Fight Freaks Unite.

Per California State Athletic Commission, the official contract purses for the PBC/Showtime card this past Saturday: Nonito Donaire $300,000, Reymart Gaballo 150,000; Kudratillo Abdukakhorov $50,000, Cody Crowley $35,000; Brandun Lee $50,000 (Lee adds $4,000 more from his opponent’s fine for being overweight), Juan Heraldez $40,000 (but he loses $8,000 in a fine for being overweight with $4,000 to Lee and $4,000 to commission); Hiroaki Teshigawara $15,000, Marlon Tapales $15,000; Gurgen Hovhannisyan $9,000, Nick Jones $10,000; Andrew Tabiti $50,000, Mitch Williams $13,200; Bryan Flores Favela $3,000, Tyrone Luckey $3,000; Custio Clayton $25,000, Cameron Krael $15,000; Jesus Silveyra Carrillo $6,500, Miguel Aispuro $6,500.

Salita Promotions announced it has signed middleweight Joseph “Sug” Hicks Jr., 28, a captain of Team USA’s international amateur boxing team. Hicks, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who didn’t begin boxing until he was 19, was National Golden Gloves champion in 2019, a three-time Eastern Elite Qualifiers champion (2017, 2018, 2019) and a five-time Michigan Golden Gloves Champion (2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019). He will make his professional debut early next year and start in six-rounders instead of the customary four rounds.

Show and tell

Soon after Lennox Lewis knocked out Mike Tyson to retain the unified heavyweight title, he vacated the IBF belt. That paved the way for then-40-year-old Evander Holyfield, seeking to become a five-time heavyweight titleholder, to face Chris Byrd for the vacant belt in an HBO main event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. As always, Holyfield gave it all he had but he simply could not deal with the faster southpaw Byrd’s movement and defense. Byrd, who dispensed with his usual hit-and-run style in the late rounds in favor of standing in and trading with Holyfield, won a unanimous decision, 117-111, 117-111, 116-112, to claim the belt and make him a two-time heavyweight titlist. I was ringside to cover the fight for USA Today on Dec. 14, 2002 — 19 years ago on Tuesday. Here is an ultra rare cardboard site poster from the fight that was on display at Caesars Atlantic City during fight week.

Parker photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Berchelt photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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