Parker vs Opelu

Who won Parker vs Opelu?

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

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

Parker vs Opelu stats

Joseph Parker stepped into the ring with a record of 31 wins, 3 loses and 0 draws.

Faiga Opelu made his way to the ring with a record of 15 wins, 3 loses 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 & 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 155 more professional rounds, 223 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 beat Jack Massey on 21st January 2023 by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom.

Previous to that, he had been beaten by Joe Joyce on 24th September 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 beat Derek Chisora on 18th December 2021 by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at Manchester Arena, Lancashire.

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

He had beat Junior Fa on 27th February 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 and 3 months, meaning he had been fighting on average 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) favourite going into the contest, while Faiga Opelu made his way into the ring at 13/2 (+670) with oddsmakers.