Parker vs Opelu

Who won Parker vs Opelu?

Joseph Parker beat Faiga Opelu by technical knockout in the 1st round on Wednesday, May 24th, 2023, at Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant there was no weight limit.

The undercard featured the clash of Tszyu vs Bommber.

Parker vs Opelu stats

Back in May 2023, Joseph Parker stepped into the ring with a record of 31 wins, 3 losses, and 0 draws.

Faiga Opelu made his way to the ring with a record of 15 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws.

Joseph Parker was the older man by 2 years, at 31 years old.

Parker had a height advantage of 4 inches over Opelu. That also extended to a 3-inch reach advantage.

Both Joseph Parker and Faiga Opelu fought out of an orthodox stance.

Parker was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 14 more fights, and made his debut in 2012, 4 years and 10 months earlier than Opelu, whose first professional fight was in 2017. He had fought 182 more professional rounds, totaling 250 compared to Opelu's 68.

Joseph Parker went into the fight ranked number 10 by the WBC, 6 by the WBO, and 12 by the IBF at heavyweight.

Parker vs Opelu form

Joseph Parker had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had beaten Jack Massey on January 21, 2023, by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Prior to that, he had been beaten by Joe Joyce on September 24, 2022, by knockout in the 11th round in their WBO Interim World Heavyweight championship fight at AO Arena, Manchester.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Derek Chisora on December 18, 2021, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Manchester Arena, Lancashire.

Before that, he had won against Derek Chisora on May 1, 2021, by split decision in their 12 round contest at Manchester Arena, Manchester.

He had beaten Junior Fa on February 27, 2021, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.

Activity check

Parker's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 2 months and 27 days, which means he had been fighting approximately every 5 months and 12 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 57 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 11.4 rounds on average.

What time did Parker vs Opelu start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 10:00 AM UTC at Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Australia, which was 6:00 AM EST or 3:00 AM PST on the West Coast of America, or 11:00 AM BST in the UK.

What were the odds on Parker vs Opelu?

Joseph Parker was a 1/12 (-1200) favorite going into the contest, while Faiga Opelu made his way into the ring at 13/2 (+670) with oddsmakers.