Joseph Parker is looking lean and mean. The former WBO heavyweight champion tipped the scales at 239.9 pounds for his scheduled 10-round bout against Faigo Opelu, who came in at 214¾ pounds during Tuesday’s weigh-in. The pair will meet Wednesday evening in a Main Event Pay-Per-View from Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Australia.
Joseph Parker Dropping The Pounds
Parker (31-3, 21 KOs) last checked in under 240 pounds in March 2018 when he lost his world title to then-undefeated, unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. He has weighed 240 pounds or more in his past eight bouts, including a career-high 255¼ pounds for his September 2022 fight against then-unbeaten Joe Joyce.
The 31-year-old Parker, of New Zealand, is coming off a 10-round unanimous decision win over Jack Massey on January 21 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, where he weighed in at 245¼.
Opelu (15-3-2, 11 KOs), a Samoa native based in Australia, takes on the stiffest challenge of his career.
The 29-year-old is 2-2-1 in his last six, including a seventh-round knockout loss to former heavyweight contender Lucas Browne in December 2021. He rebounded with a stoppage win over previously unbeaten Hemi Ahio on the undercard of the Devin Haney-George Kambosos rematch last October 16 in Melbourne.
Joseph Parker subsequently fought countryman Kris Terzievski to a fluke technical draw on March 25 in Flemington. In that fight, Opelu floored Terzievski with a right hand before inadvertently tripping and stepping on his opponent’s ankle, rendering him unable to continue.
Another Son of Tszyu Doing Battle
In the chief support, Nikita Tszyu (5-0, 4KOs)—the son of Hall of Fame former junior welterweight king Kostya Tszyu and younger brother of junior middleweight contender Tim Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs)—will face countryman Benjamin Bommber (5-0, 4 KOs) in a scheduled six-round contest.
Tszyu weighed in at 153.9 pounds, while Bommber was initially 1 pound over the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds before coming in at 153¼ on his second attempt.