Joseph Parker has revealed his desire to secure a rematch with Anthony Joshua after his fight with Fabio Wardley.
Joshua defeated Parker over 12 rounds in 2018 to become the unified heavyweight world champion.
Since his loss to Joe Joyce, the New Zealander has turned his fortunes around with some great wins.
In his last three fights, he’s beaten Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and stopped heavyweight boogeyman Martin Bakole in two rounds.
He spoke to Sky Sports where he confirmed he wants to run it back with ‘AJ’.
“I’ve been wanting a rematch with Joshua,” the 33-year-old said.
“I want to avenge those losses.”
Parker became the WBO interim champion in March 2024 after his win over Zhang, having to climb off the canvas twice in a gruelling back-and-forth contest.
He also discussed the potential of his WBO interim belt being upgraded and how that may help him get bigger fights.
“I know AJ’s another big fight, I don’t really care who I fight, just make sure it’s someone who’s top five in the world.
“It’s a bargaining chip, being the champion of the world.
“You want to win it so it would be nice to fight someone to win it. I know you can get elevated to it and it gives you a bit more bargaining power. But it would be nice to fight for it.”
The 33-year-old was close to landing a clash with two-time undisputed heavyweight world champion, Oleksandr Usyk after his win over Daniel Dubois.
Parker was made a mandatory defence for the Ukrainian’s WBO title, but the 38-year-old has since been granted an extension to negotiate a fight after picking up an injury.
“They’re saying the winner of this fight gets Usyk next. They can say whatever they want to say, but Usyk holds the decision who he wants to fight.”
Since his loss to Joe Joyce in 2022, Parker has looked a different fighter striving for a second world title.
“If that opportunity came I feel like I can show something different.
“Experience, skill, belief, power, speed, movement, I feel like I’m getting better and better as a fighter even though now I’m 12 years in the game.
“I know what I can do. I back myself and believe in what I can do. But that’ll be there once I do this fight.”
Parker returns to the ring in less than a week where he faces hard-hitting Wardley who is looking to take Parker’s interim title and land a world title fight for himself.
