Joseph Parker vs Jack Massey Preview January 21st, 2023
There’s a pretty good heavyweight Tilt in Manchester, England this Saturday, January 21st as Joseph Parker of New Zealand takes on Jack Massey of England. The 10-rounder can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office while those in most other nations can catch the action on DAZN on the undercard of the Liam Smith vs Chris Eubank Jr. battle. Parker last boxed in September when he was stopped in the 11th round of a slugfest by Joe Joyce while Massey last saw action in April when he stopped Vaclav Pejsar in the second round.
**Watch live on DAZN this Saturday. Your first month is free.
Parker vs Massey Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jack Massey +500
- Joseph Parker -800
My Pick
The 31-year-old Parker is s former WBO Heavyweight Champion who enters the bout with a mark of 30-3 with 21 Ko’s. He won the regular WBO title in December, 2016 by beating Andy Ruiz Jr. by majority decision. He then lost it via unanimous decision to Anthony Joshua in March, 2018 in a unification bout with his second defeat being a controversial 12-round unanimous decision to Dillian Whyte in August, 2018 for the vacant WBO International and the WBC Silver Heavyweight Titles. His loss to Joyce last year was for the vacant interim WBO Crown.
Parker owns above average power with a current knockout ratio of 63.6 per cent but has gone the distance in eight of his last 12 fights with all three of his losses coming in his last nine outings. Earlier in his career, Parker’s power was his strong point but he’s had to depend on his boxing skills and hand speed more often in the past few years. He went the distance five times in a row from 2016 to 2018 against Whyte, Joshua, Hughie Fury, Razvan Cojanu and Ruiz before stopping Alexander Flores, Alex Leapai and Shawndell Winters all in a row between December, 2018 and February, 2020.
Since then, he’s beaten Junior Fa and Dereck Chisora (twice) by decisions before falling to Joyce. Parker needs to improve his stamina so he can fight the full three minutes of every round if he’s forced to. He landed several bombs against Joyce in his last contest but was worn down and out of gas when stopped with just five minutes to go in the fight. Parker won the WBO Oriental Heavyweight Championship by stopping Brian Minto in seven rounds in 2014 and has won several other regional heavyweight titles in his part of the world including the WBO Oriental Title and the OPBF Crown.
Parker has also beaten the likes of Alexander Dimitrenko, Carlos Takam, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento, Kali Meehan, Bowie Tupou, Jason Pettaway, Frans Botha and Sherman Williams. He turned pro in 2005 after an excellent amateur career and has 212 rounds under his belt since. He also has decent size for a modern-day heavyweight at 6-feet-4-inches with a 76-inch reach. Parker’s not the most athletic and mobile boxer in the ring though and generally has trouble against fleet-footed and mobile opponents.
He also leaves himself open for counter shots but doesn’t mind taking one or two punches to land one of his own. His chin has been pretty reliable so far after being tested quite often even though he was halted by Joyce. Parker needs to instill a killer instinct as he staggered Joyce on several occasions and waited far too long to go after Dillian Whyte as he virtually had him out on his feet just as the bell rang and paid the price for not letting his hands go earlier.
As for Massey, he’s a 29-year-old from Derbyshire and carries around a record of 20-1 with 11 Ko’s. He’s fought 93 rounds since making his pro debut in 2013 following an amateur career which saw him beat Chris Billam-Smith in the 2013 English National Championships. Unfortunately, there’s no height and reach information for Massey so we don’t know how he stacks up size-wise against Parker. What we do know though is that he’s boxed most of his pro career as a cruiserweight.
Massey won the vacant IBO Cruiserweight Belt in November, 2021 when he stopped Bilal Laggoune in the third round and earlier in his career he captured the vacant IBF European and vacant WBC Youth Silver Cruiserweight Titles. His lone loss as a pro came against Richard Riakporhe via 12-round unanimous decision in a shot at the vacant British Cruiserweight Title. He was also dropped in the 10th round of that fight. Massey has never fought outside of England as a pro and he’s met limited opposition up to now so will be taking a big step up in class this weekend. As far as power is concerned, his current knockout ratio stands at 52.4 per cent.
Prediction…
Parker’s a solid heavyweight contender and he basically has all of the advantages over Massey in this fight other than age. Still, he can’s take the bulked-up cruiserweight lightly and needs to let his hands go as he did against Joyce. As long as his fists are flying I’m expecting Parker to bounce back with a win here.
Parker’s experience and power should be the difference.
Play Parker -800 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Jack Massey betting • Joseph Parker betting