Ready to rumble: Details revealed for December fight between Joseph Parker and Junior Fa

After 1 NEWS revealed the two fighters’ camps finally agreed to terms last night, both parties came together this morning to reveal the heavyweight bout will take place at Auckland’s Spark Arena on December 11.

Parker’s promoters David Higgins and Eddie Hearn said getting the fight over the line is “huge” for New Zealand.

“With both boxers inside the WBO top 10 world rankings and in their prime, this is undeniably New Zealand’s fight of the century,” Higgins said.

“This is going to be a war,” Hearn added.

“There’s plenty of needle with the amateur rivalry and there’s national pride at stake. A win over Fa will catapult Joe back into world title contention.”

The fight will also be broadcast by Spark Sport for New Zealand audiences, ending a long run of Parker bouts being televised by SKY Sport Arena.

Adding to the occasion is the fact a full crowd will be able to attend the event, given New Zealand and specifically Auckland remains at Alert Level 1 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As amateurs, Fa and Parker split two wins each when they faced off in the ring with Fa taking the first and last of the four encounters.

Since both have turned professional though, their paths have been remarkably different with Parker going on to claim and then eventually lose the WBO world heavyweight title while Fa has gone undefeated but also dealt with health issues.

Parker was last in the ring in February when he claimed a TKO victory over American Shawndell Winters in the fifth round; a win that moved him to 27-2 in his professional career.

Fa – the WBO oriental interim heavyweight title holder for the last two years – hasn’t fought since last November when he took down Devin Vargas with a unanimous decision after 10 rounds, taking his record to 19-0.

Parker is currently ranked third in the WBO’s heavyweight rankings while Fa sits three places back in sixth.