Kiwi Joseph Parker has kept his world championship aspirations alive with an emphatic knockout win on the undercard of Tyson Fury's latest fight at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The former WBO heavyweight titleholder continued his comeback with his third win of the year, catching Canadian Simon Kean with an uppercut in the third round to end the contest.
Kean, 34, brought a 22-1 record into the bout, including 22 knockout wins, but was not in the same league as Parker, who toyed with him for the opening two rounds, before moving in for the kill.
Seemingly frustrated, the Canadian waved his arms to invite Parker forward and the Kiwi obliged, landing a vicious right hand that knocked his opponent to the canvas for the 23rd knockout of his pro career.
Parker's hopes of another title shot were dealt a severe setback in September 2022, when he suffered a third career defeat to Brit Joe Joyce, who inflicted the first knockout loss on the former champ.
Currently ranked sixth by the World Boxing Organisation, Parker has tried to stay active, beating Englishman Jack Massey by unanimous decision in January and Faiga Opelu in May.
Meanwhile, in the main fight, Fury survived a knockdown by former mixed martial arts fighter Francis Ngannou to escape with a contentions split-decision win. His WBC heavyweight crown was not on the line, but he has agreed to face IBF, WBO, IBF and IBO champion Oleksandr Usyk next month.
