Razvan Cojanu the only credible contender for May 6th title defence
WBO Heavyweight champion Joseph Parker is pleased his three month training camp is not all in vain following the
announcement today that he will face Razvan ‘Big Foot’ Cojanu next Saturday night.
In further good news for Team Parker, one of the world’s largest SUV manufacturers HAVAL, has thrown its support behind
him to defend the title at Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau on May 6th
HAVAL and sister brand Great Wall Motors have been unveiled as main sponsors for Parker’s first world title defence the
giant Romanian.
Chief Marketing Officer Tim Smith said it was a red-letter day for HAVAL.
“We are excited to be in the corner supporting New Zealand champion Joseph Parker, and be a part of history as the
country hosts its first world heavyweight title event against the tough Cojanu”.
Duco Matchmaker Stuart Duncan has revealed Romanian World number 14 was the only credible contender to face Parker
following the injury to mandatory number one contender Hughie Fury over the weekend.
Mr Duncan received the phone call no matchmaker wants to hear last Sunday, just 13 days before the scheduled bout at
Spark Arena in Auckland.
Parker has been in training camp since January 30 preparing for a tall opponent so, any replacement had to be at least
6’5”.
While the kiwi would love to face WBC champion Deontay Wilder, it was never an option.
The American risks being stripped of his title if he ignores his mandatory opponent Bermaine Stiverne.
Cojanu arrives in New Zealand with strong credentials having made his pro debut in 2011 and has 300 plus amateur fights
under his belt.
He has previously signed contracts to fight contenders Jarrell Miller, Dillian Whyte and the most avoided man in the
division, Luis Ortiz, only for all three opponents to drop out.
Conjanu is big and mobile with a wicked left rip and hook and has the advantage of knowing what Parker has been working
on in camp.
The WBO Champion used Cojanu extensively in his camp to prepare for Alexander Dimitrenko and, as a result, produced
arguably the finest result of his professional career.
Parker also faces Cojanu knowing he has never dropped the Romanian in sparring in any of his camps.
WBO WORLD RANKINGS1Hughie FuryOut injured2Christian HammerAlready signed to defending his European title3Jarrell Miller5’ shorter than Fury & totally different style4Andy RuizOnly began training this week.5Kubrat PulevHe is defending his WBA Regional title this week6Dominic BreazealeDoes not want to fight on May 67Dillain WhyteIs booked to fight Mariusz Wach8Tom SchwarzFought last weekend9Andriy Rudenko6’ tall10Luis OrtizInjured and pulled out of a fight last week11Andrey Fedesov6’1 tall & fights nothing like Fury12Agit Kabayel6’3 and again fights nothing like Hughie Fury 13Kyotaro Fujimoto5’11 tall and is booked to fight14Razvan Cojanu6’7 ½ tall actively training and available15Zhilei ZhangA southpaw