Joseph Parker secures first knockout in three years
Joseph Parker recorded his first stoppage win in three years as he knocked out Faiga Opelu in the first round with close friend and fellow heavyweight Tyson Fury watching on from ringside in Australia.
The former WBO heavyweight champion took his latest step towards re-joining the division's biggest names as he dispatched his opponent in emphatic style to improve to 32-3.
Parker was fighting for the first time since beating Jack Massey by unanimous decision in Manchester back in January.
"I'd like to thank Django [Opelu] for taking the fight and putting on the best performance he could," said Parker post-fight.
"I want to keep busy, anyone who's keen, anywhere. I just want to fight."
Parker had been dealt a major blow to his world title hopes in September when he suffered an 11th-round knockout defeat to Joe Joyce to leave him on the outside looking in as far as the heavyweight frontrunners were concerned.
"I'd like to see him fight maybe a rematch with Andy Ruiz, or a rematch with Joe Joyce, or even Dillian Whyte or even AJ. Joseph Parker is back on the map!" said Fury.
Before Opelu his most recent stoppage victory came in a fifth-round TKO win over Shawndell Winters in February 2020, after which he went on to beat Junior Fa followed by back-to-back split and unanimous decision triumphs over Derek Chisora in 2021.
In getting the job done in 86 seconds it also marked his swiftest victory since August 2015 when he took him a mere 63 seconds to topple Bowie Tupou.
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