Joseph Parker vs Razvan Cojanu Preview May 6th
Unbeaten WBO Heavyweight Champion Joseph Parker of New Zealand enters the ring again this Saturday, May 6th when he takes on Razvan Cojanu of Romania at the Vodafone Centre in Manukaua City in New Zealand. Parker was supposed to take on Britain’s Hughie Fury, but the fight fell through. Parker won the WBO title in his last fight in December when he beat Andy Ruiz Jr. by majority decision. Cojanu was also last in the ring in December when he stopped Zhi Yu Wu in the second round. The winner is hoping to land a shot at IBF and WBA Champion Anthony Joshua of England.
Parker vs Cojanu Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Razvan Cojanu +2000
- Joseph Parker -5000
My Pick
The 25-year-old Parker has a perfect mark of 22-0 along with 18 Kos. He’s well known for his power, but his speed should also be taken note of as he has pretty quick hands as well. His biggest problem is leaving himself open for counter shots. Parker doesn’t mind taking one or two punches to land one of his own and so far his chin has held out as it’s been tested quite often. But to be honest, Parker’s power has gotten him this far in his pro career not his boxing skills, as his current knockout ratio stands at 82 per cent.
Parker still needs to improve his stamina so he can fight the full three minutes of every round if he’s forced to. He won the WBO Oriental Heavyweight Championship by stopping American Brian Minto in seven rounds back in 2014 and also won several other regional heavyweight titles in his part of the world such as the WBO Oriental Title and the OPBF crown. He’s faced some decent boxers so far such as Ruiz, Alexander Dimitrenko, Minto, Carlos Takam, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, Kali Meehan, Bowie Tupou, Jason Pettaway, Frans Botha and Sherman Williams.
Parker turned pro back in 2005 and has 99 rounds under his belt since then. He has decent size for a modern-day heavyweight at 6-feet-4-inches in height with a 76-inch reach. His opponent, the 30-year-old Cojanu, is actually quite a bit bigger at just over 6-foot-7 with an unlisted reach. He now fights out of the U.S. and has just 68 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2011. He possesses average power with a current knockout ratio of 50 per cent.
Most boxing fans may have never heard of Cojanu, but he’ll enter the bout with a record of 16-2 along with nine Kos. Fans probably don’t recognize any of his opponents either, perhaps other than Grover Young, Ed Fountain and Manuel Alberto Pucheta. His first loss came against Alvaro Morales via a four-round majority decision in his pro debut and his second defeat was to Donovan Dennis by second-round stoppage in April of 2015.
Prediction…
Parker was training for Hughie Fury, who’s 6-foot-6, so that’s why the 6-foot-7 Cojanu makes sense as a late replacement. It might be harder for Parker to be as motivated against Cojanu, but he still needs to get the job done and he should by decision or stoppage.
Cojanu is taking a big step up in class here.
Play: Parker -5000 @ 5dimes.eu
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Joseph Parker betting • Razvan Cojanu betting