Read the complete write-up of Joseph Parker net worth, age, height, family, wife, children, House, full name, next fight, records as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Joseph Parker is a New Zealand professional boxer of Samoan heritage. He held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018, and previously multiple regional heavyweight championships including the WBO Oriental, Africa, and Oceania titles; as well as the PABA, OPBF, and New Zealand titles. As an amateur, he represented New Zealand at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the super-heavyweight division, and narrowly missed qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Parker turned professional in July 2012 with Duco Events in Auckland, under the tutelage of Sir Bob Jones. After defeating Andy Ruiz for the vacant WBO title, Parker became the first heavyweight boxer from either New Zealand or the Pacific Islands to win a major world championship. As of September 2021, he is ranked as the world’s fourth-best active heavyweight by The Ring magazine and BoxRec and eighth best by TBRB. During his reign as WBO champion, he reached a peak active heavyweight ranking of the third by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Early life
| Name | Joseph Parker |
| Net Worth | $16 million |
| Profession | Boxer |
| Height | 1.93m |
| Age | 29 years |
Joseph Dennis Parker OM was born on January 9, 1992(age 29 years) in South Auckland. His parents are Dempsey and Sala Parker. His father Dempsey was named after world heavyweight champion American boxer Jack Dempsey. Parker grew up in the large suburb of Mangere in Auckland and attended Marcellin College in the suburb of Hillsborough. At the age of three, he enjoyed jabbing into his father’s palms and while he was still a young boy Dempsey gave him boxing gloves and a punching bag. When he was ten years old, he joined the Papatoetoe Boxing Club to pursue and learn more about the sport. He was trained by Grant Arkell and former boxer Manny Santos.
When Parker was growing up, he admired David Tua and Maselino Masoe who were from the same area as him. Parker is the middle child; he has one older sister, Elizabeth, and a younger brother, John, who is currently a professional boxer. He is of predominantly Samoan descent, with his ancestry roots going back to the Faleula Village on the main island of Upolu where his mother hails from. Both his parents migrated to New Zealand from Samoa in the early 1980s. Parker also comes from a religious family, belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Amateur career
Parker had success during his 66-fight amateur career, becoming a two-time New Zealand amateur heavyweight champion in 2010 and 2011, as well as winning several amateur tournaments and scoring some notable wins on the international circuit. Having his first fight at the early age of twelve, Parker grew and progressed, winning the 2009 New Zealand Golden Gloves Tournament in Palmerston North. He followed up with a second placing at the New Zealand Elite National Championships, losing to rival Junior Fa.
He started boxing internationally at sixteen years of age. His first international tournament was at the Commonwealth Boxing Championships in 2010 where he won silver. Parker’s first major event was the AIBA Youth World Championships in Azerbaijan. He was looked after by the Australian National Team Management as his coach Grant Arkell could not afford to accompany him. He was the sole representative of his country in the quarterfinals after he beat Turkey’s Yusuf Açik to face the Pan-American champion Yuniel Castro Chavez from Cuba.
Parker won the bout on points, 8:1 to advance to the semifinals. There he fought Croatia’s Filip Hrgović. They traded punches in a closely matched bout that saw the scores remain within one point of each other for most of the match. In the end, it was the Croatian who managed to gain the upper hand in the final round and push ahead to an 8:6 victory. Despite leaving the ring nursing a nose injury, Parker won bronze. Parker then travelled to Singapore, to compete at the Youth Olympics. He won silver after defeating Jozsef Zsigmond in the semifinals. He then proceeded to the final where he lost on points against Tony Yoka of France.
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After what was a busy season for Parker, he finished the year featuring in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The then 18-year-old beat Canadian Didier Bence 14:7 in a fiery contest, charging home late in the third and final round when it appeared the fight was slipping away. Parker was down 7:5 on points when he landed a decisive right hand to Bence’s head with one minute 15 seconds remaining. It knocked the Canadian down and effectively ended the fight as Parker registered the last nine points. Parker then advanced to the quarterfinals, losing to Tariq Abdul Haqq. The fight was tied at 7:7 after Parker landed a late punch to tie up the scores. The judges, however, gave Abdul Haqq the win by a majority decision of three of the five judges, meaning that Parker missed earning a medal.
In 2011, Parker won his first notable gold medal in Darwin, Australia, at the Arafura Games. He began with two wins by stoppage, with a first-round victory in the quarterfinals over Jean Tuisamoa of New Caledonia. After winning the semifinals against Jake Ageidu, he met Emile Gineste from Tahiti in the Final. Parker had little trouble with his opponent, with the referee ending the contest in the first round.
Joseph Parker continued his rise up the World Amateur standings, with further gold medal success. He opened his Chinese campaign in Guiyang at the China Open tournament, stopping Iderbat Davaalkhagva from Mongolia. In the final, he was opposed by Ospanov Doszham from Kazakhstan. Parker was awarded the victory by way of a six-point winning margin. At the 50th Belgrade annual boxing tournament, Parker ended his amateur career defeating 2012 London Olympics berth winner, Johan Linde of Australia, to claim his third gold. He had previously beaten Erik Pfeifer of Germany on points to secure a place in the finals.
Early career
Parker made his professional debut at SkyCity’s Convention Centre in Auckland. Dean Garmonsway was chosen as Parker’s first opponent. A Hamilton physical education school teacher and former Waikato Rugby league representative, Garmonsway had only three professional boxing bouts, amounting to two wins and one loss. The bout featured on the undercard of Godfather of All Fight Nights, Shane Cameron vs. Monte Barrett title eliminator. At the time, Parker was considered New Zealand’s most promising boxer since David Tua. Parker defeated Garmonsway by technical knockout midway through the second round.
After scoring a number of consecutive victories in New Zealand and the US, Parker agreed to fight Francois Botha. Botha was known to be capable of landing a quality punch or two and had the ability to send fighters to the canvas, though Parker was considered the favourite to win. He defeated Botha in June 2013 by a second-round knockout over the former four-time world heavyweight contender.
Following his win over Botha, Parker extended his unbeaten professional record to seven wins on 10 October 2013 with a second-round knockout over Afa Tatupu at the Trusts Arena in Waitakere, Auckland. Parker secured the New Zealand National Boxing Federation title with a win marred only by a serious cut he suffered in the opening round when the fighters clashed heads. His charge responded with a flurry of punches which lowered former champion Tatupu two minutes into the second round. The pair went toe-to-toe for much of the second round before Parker’s superior speed and power made the difference.
Parker started off in 2014 after he defeated Marcelo Luiz Nascimento after a flurry of blows in the seventh round saw referee Brad Vocale stop the fight, although Nascimento protested the decision. Parker was the dominant figure throughout the bout and won the Pan Asian Boxing Association interim heavyweight title for his efforts. The fight, on the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko’s world heavyweight title defence against Australian Alex Leapai, was Parker’s eighth as a professional. Nascimento was a late replacement for durable veteran Sherman Williams.
In his next bout, he defeated 39-year-old defending WBO Oriental heavyweight champion Brian Mintovia seventh-round stoppage on 5 July 2014 in Auckland. Following an easy victory over Keith Thompson in August, Parker went on to outclass 42-year-old Sherman Williams with a convincing unanimous decision. After losing, Williams continued to cause controversy after repeatedly attempting to grab the microphone within the ring and issuing a re-match challenge to Parker. He claimed that he’d knock out Parker in the sixth round in a re-match. Parker quoted saying it’s not up to him and we are fighters and let’s leave it to the judges to decide.
Parker continued his winning form after he knocked out WBO Latino heavyweight champion Irineu Beato Costa Junior in December 2014, before doing the same to Jason Pettaway in March 2015. Parker had moved to 13–0 after beating Pettaway and Costa Junior, with both victories coming from knockouts in the fourth round. Joseph retained his Pan Asian Boxing Association and WBO Oriental heavyweight titles.
Following a three-week camp as a sparring partner to Wladimir Klitschko in Florida, Parker announced to fight three more bouts in 2015, re-commencing in Palmerston North on 13 June where he defeated Yakup Saglam via second-round knockout. He maintained his unbeaten record, notching his fourteenth win and twelfth by knockout while retaining his two titles.
Following the withdrawal of Japanese heavyweight champion Kyotaro Fujimoto, Parker beat replacement Bowie Tupou on 1 August in Invercargill, New Zealand, by first-round knockout. He then fought 45-year-old former world title contender Kali Meehan (42–5) on 15 October in Auckland. The New Zealand-born Australian Meehan earned his shot at the promising heavyweight after winning the Super 8 competition and beating New Zealand veteran Shane Cameron. Parker controlled the opening two rounds, en route to a third-round stoppage victory, adding the WBC’s Eurasia Pacific Boxing Council and WBA Oceania titles to his collection.
Parker’s next two opponents were both named on 9 November 2015, with 24-year-old Daniel Martz selected for 5 December 2015 in Hamilton, followed by southpaw Jason Bergman on 23 January 2016 in Apia, Samoa. Parker scored a first-round technical knockout win over Martz.
Parker notched his 18th consecutive win with an eighth-round technical knockout of Jason Bergman in Samoa. Far from the one or two round finishes of his more recent fights, Parker was made to work for his victory by a staunch and determined Bergman. The challenger offered very little on offence but displayed some impressive mettle in soldiering through a number of Parker onslaughts, the champion tenderising the body relentlessly in what proved to be the ideal workout against his first southpaw opponent. After twice sending Bergman to his knee in earlier rounds for the count, one particularly brutal liver shot crumbled the American, the referee had seen enough as he waved off the fight.
Moving up the ranks
It was confirmed that Parker and Carlos Takam would fight on 21 May 2016 in an IBF heavyweight eliminator. The winner would be required to fight for the world title against the reigning champion, Anthony Joshua of Britain. Prior to the fight being announced, Parker and his handlers twice avoided fighting Takam the previous year because of the risk involved. The fight took place with Parker winning a unanimous decision after twelve rounds, in front of a vocal home crowd at South Auckland’s Vodafone Events Centre in New Zealand. Two judges scored it 116–112, and one at 115–113. Takam was largely outworked by Parker, and neither threw many punches to secure the rounds.
The fight contract for Joseph Parker vs. Solomon Haumono was finally signed off on 23 May 2016. This match-up was a long time in the making, with the pair having shown interest in fighting each other in the past. Haumono’s WBA Oceania and PABA heavyweight titles were initially on the line. It was hyped as a Trans-Tasman grudge match with Parker’s IBF world heavyweight mandatory position on the line which attracted the attention of the Australian media and public. Parker defeated Haunono via fourth-round technical knockout.
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Parker’s team made the announcement of Parker’s 1 October fight in late July with the tall Ukrainian-born German Alexander Dimitrenko in a 12-round bout at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau, the same venue Parker secured a points win over Carlos Takam to secure the IBF number one mandatory position in May. Trainer Kevin Barry commented that the Dimitrenko bout was a preparation for his eventual heavyweight title fight with Anthony Joshua. Parker started off strong knocking down Dimitrenko in round one. He then used his speed in round two and knocked Dimitrenko down twice following right hands. Dimitrenko was knocked down a final time in round three; as he was falling, Parker hit another body shot, which the referee appeared to miss. The fight was called off 1 minute and 36 seconds into round three.
Recognition
Parker goes by the high chief name of Lupesoliai La’auliolemalietoa. Contrary to reports that the emerging star was bestowed a matai (chief) title, the village of Faleula revealed to him the name to bestow upon him the chiefly title of La’auli. The paramount chief of the village, Loau Keneti Sio, urged him to be a “strong man”. He bestowed his blessings on Parker, reminding him that the bestowed title is a gift and a “blessing to him from the village”. Loau said informing him that he has been chosen to be bestowed the title La’auli is a sign of respect. It is also a thank you from the village for what he has achieved for Samoa.
Wife
Joseph Parker is married to longtime girlfriend Laine Tavita, they have 3 children together. However, in early October 2016, Parker’s partner Laine Tavita said that she was expecting Parker’s child. A baby shower was held prior to it being announced, which Parker attended before flying off to prepare for his world title bout. He was not present when Tavita gave birth to their daughter, named after his sister and his mother, as he was in Las Vegas preparing.
House
In the build-up to his fight against Anthony Joshua in 2018, Parker said he had bought a new home for his family in New Zealand. During early July, he revealed he had a second daughter, Shiloh Jasmine Parker, on his social platforms to his partner Laine. On 25 May 2019, Parker and Laine welcomed their third daughter, Michaela Florence Parker. Parker revealed the news via his Instagram account. Parker was not present to witness his daughter’s birth, as he had been in a training camp with Kevin Barry in Las Vegas.
Joseph Parker net worth
How much is Joseph Parker worth? Joseph Parker net worth is estimated at around $16 million as of 2021. His main source of income is from his boxing career. Joseph Parker’s successful career has earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy cars. However, Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi awarded Parker the Order of Merit Award at the 2017 Government’s Honours and Awards. He was the youngest recipient of an award at the ceremony. The Prime Minister also announced the government of Samoa would host a special welcome for Parker, with a half-day commission holiday. On 16 September 2021, it was announced that Parker and Chisora would square off in a rematch on 18 December, again at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.