Polished Parker in a boxing masterclass
Connor Parker…sharper with each bout. Picture: Stephen Webb/BCB
WITH each fight on the comeback trail, Connor Parker is getting sharper, getting closer to where he was before.
At the Holiday Inn, Birmingham Airport, on Sunday, Parker gave a masterful display of textbook boxing to take all six rounds again Mexican Eduardo Vera Sanchez. Referee Peter McCormack scored 60-54.
It really was a joy to watch.
That’s win number four for the Woodville, Derbyshire, southpaw after two years away and it’s interesting to watch the improvements that come with each outing.
Parker is a very accomplished, technically well grounded boxer. He’s lost only one of 19, the sole setback coming in 2019 against Sam Maxwell for the WBO super-lightweight belt.
Parker has Sanchez covering up on way to landslide to win
On the strength of Sunday’s performance, big fights will again beckon, but two divisions up at super-welter.
Against fellow southpaw Sanchez, Parker dictated behind a firm, slide-rule jab, doubled-up to head and body.
The visitor, much shorter than the home fighter, threatened with hooks, but was kept in his place by those stiff right hands.
He copped a peach of a right hook in the second and, in the third, soaked-up three quick-fire jabs flush in the face. That lead tormented the Mexican throughout.
Fighting out of a crouch, Sanchez tried to up the anti in the fourth, connected with a right uppercut of his own, only to take left uppercuts as they pair fought inside.
The crowd broke into applause in the fourth after Parker peeled-off four jabs in succession. It was that kind of fight: a thriller by no means, but a peach for purists. You could only sit back and admire the East Midlander’s skills.
They worked inside in the last – Parker always having the last word, then Sanchez decided to abandon caution in the last 10 seconds, at one point running at Connor as he slung punches.
Both scaled 11st.
Any youngster learning the noble art would benefit from studying a tape of this masterclass.