UNBEATEN heavyweight Joseph Parker will fight Carlos Takam in an IBF final eliminator on May 21.
The winner will become mandatory challenger for the title Charles Martin defends against Anthony Joshua on April 9.
The IBF confirmed to Boxing News that Parker-Takam will serve as a final eliminator, while Dereck Chisora’s fight with Kubrat Pulev on May 7 is just an eliminator, meaning the victor will become second in their world rankings.
Parker will fight Takam at the Vodafone Events Centre in South Auckland, New Zealand – just nine kilometres from his family home .
“This is a massive achievement by our promotions team, Duco Events to secure the IBF world title eliminator for New Zealand,” said Parker’s trainer, Kevin Barry from his base in Las Vegas.
“We have developed excellent systems that have proved to be successful for Joe over the last three years.
“It’s great we can keep this winning formula in place for the biggest fight of Joseph Parker’s career.”
Should Parker and Joshua both win their respective upcoming fights, a contest between the two would be highly anticipated. However, whoever emerges victorious on April 9 will not have a mandatory challenge due until January 2017.
Parker, 18-0 (16), quickly became one of the top prospects in the banner division and, like Joshua, is now transitioning into a bona fide contender. His last outing came in January, when he stopped Jason Bergman in eight rounds.
Takam was a mooted opponent for Joshua due to his high ranking with the IBF, and has won three on the bounce since being stopped by Alexander Povetkin in 2014.
