Parker To Clash Against Winters In Texas
When Joseph Parker signed with Matchoom Boxing in 2019, the former WBO Heavyweight Champion was hoping he would return to championship glory. He is one step closer to his goal, as he will officially be facing Shawndell Winters inside the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on February 29.
The fight was added to the undercard of the stacked event that features Mikey Garcia facing off against Jessie Vargas.
๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐จ ๐ช@joeboxerparker added to our monster #GarciaVargas card on February 29, facing Shawndell Winters in Frisco ๐บ๐ธ #ParkerWinters
๐ Ford Center @thestarinfrisco, TX
๐ On sale from $25 at https://t.co/QZq9ffeaGU— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) February 5, 2020
“It’s great to have Joseph back in action early in the year,” said Matchroom Boxing promotor Eddie Hearn in a press release. “The Heavyweight division is red-hot right now, and it’s important for Joseph to make a statement and remind the champions and fellow challengers that he’s coming for them – but Shawndell is on a roll and will. be desperate to take a huge scalp in the shape of the Kiwi on a massive night in Texas.”
โShawndell is a very tough competitor who recently moved up to Heavyweight. Heโs already pulled off two consecutive upsets against favored opponents, and the fight before that should have been a third,โ DiBella Entertainment’s own Lou DiBella stated. โHeโs looking for his biggest upset yet against former World champion Joseph Parker. This is a tremendous opportunity for this ex-Cruiserweight Rocky from Harvey, Illinois. I believe he is a live underdog.โ
Parker (26-2) is currently on a two-fight win streak. He beat Alexander Flores via KO in 2018 and Alex Leapai in his Matchroom debut this past June via TKO. This is part of Parker’s redemption tour. After beating Andy Ruiz Jr. for the vacant WBO title in 2016, Parker successfully defended the belt against Razvan Cojanu and Hughie Fury. He ended up losing the belt to Anthony Joshua in a back and forth affair that had a questionable outcome. Next time out, he lost to Dillian Whyte via unanimous decision before beating Flores.
โI am delighted to be back in action on this huge bill in Texas,โ Parker went on to say. “It was frustrating to be ruled out of the Chisora fight in October, especially in such an unusual way, but I have been on fire in the gym in Las Vegas and weโre ready to get back to business. The division is moving at a great pace and this is a perfect opportunity to show the world that I am one of the elite players in the division.”
Winters (13-2) is on a two-fight win streak. He took out both Oleksandr Teslenko and Sergiej Werwejko via TKO following a majority decision loss to Nikodem Jezewski in April. Only one of his thirteen fights won have not been won via KO; In 2015 against Joey Montoya via unanimous decision.
โThis is the biggest fight of my career and I am going to make it count,โ saidย Winters. โI am used to being the underdog, itโs something that I thrive on and if Joseph Parker underestimates me, heโs going to be in for a bad night โ because I am going in there to take him out.
โI want to thank Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Boxing USA, DiBella Entertainment and Be Def Sports for the opportunity and special thanks to champion Joseph for taking me as a worthy opponent โ but he will live to regret it!โ
Other bouts added to the card include two major title fights. Kal Yafai (26-0) will put his WBA Super-Flyweight Championship on the line against Roman Gonzalez (48-2), whileย Julio Cesar Martinez (15-1) will defend the WBC Flyweight Title against Jay Harris (17-0).
Parker v. Winters and Garcia v. Vargas will be airing on DAZN in the United States and Sky Sports in the UK. Tickets for the event are on sale now via SeatGeek.