Joseph Parker

The fight's promoter Eddie Hearn has announced Parker has pulled out due to illness.

Reports out of the US suggest Parker's illness may have been caused by a spider bite.

It was scheduled to be Parker's second fight with Hearn's Matchroom Boxing.

Parker's last fight was against Alex Leapai - he won it with a TKO in the 10th round.

The 26-2 Parker has had just one fight in 2019, a TKO of Australian Alex Leapai in Providence in June. Chisora has a 31-9 record with victories over Senad Gashi and Artur Szpilka this year.

The bout will be the co-main event on the card headlined by a super-lightweight world title unification fight, and shapes up to be a turning point in Parker's career - for better or for worse.

Speaking to the Herald, Parker's manager David Higgins said a win opens a lot of doors for Parker, while a loss makes the road back to the top a whole lot longer.

It is understood John Parker assaulted at least one member of the public after being removed from a United Airlines flight to Los Angeles due to a ticketing issue. 

The 25-year-old was also involved in a physical incident with a member of Joseph Parker's extended management team at a Chicago hotel the previous night. Stuff has confirmed manager David Higgins was not involved. Parker's entourage have suggested that "mental health issues" were a factor. 

Mexican-American Andy Ruiz Jr has been paraded through his hometown of Imperial Valley, California, after his shock win over Anthony Joshua.

When asked about potential opponents beyond his rematch with the Brit, Ruiz didn't shy away from the Kiwi.

"I'd like to fight him [Joseph Parker], after we get the fight I have first," Ruiz told media during a victory parade at the weekend.

The Samoan born Leapai replaces American Eric Molina for the fight in Rhode Island

Molina pulled out amidst a dispute his promoter Don King had with the fight terms.

The two will fight on June 29 in the first of Parker's three fight deal with British promoter Eddie Hearn.

The Lauli'i born 39-year-old boxer, who is fighting out of Australia, has won 32 fights of his 43 fights, 25 by knockout.

Parker is fighting for the first time with Matchroom Boxing, the same promotion team that recently dethroned champion Anthony Joshua belongs to.

The American-Mexican fighter shocked the world with a devastating seventh round TKO win over heavy favourite Anthony Joshua Sunday afternoon [NZ time] at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Parker, 27, congratulated Ruiz Jr on his victory and said the referee made the right decision in stopping the fight.

"The ref gave him [Joshua] a chance, good on Andy," Parker told AB Boxing News.

Parker is the only fighter to defeat Ruiz Jr in his professional boxing career, beating the Mexican brawler by majority decision in 2016 to win the WBO heavyweight title.

Parker will take on American Eric Molina on June 29 in Providence, Rhode Island on the undercard of the WBO middleweight world title fight between Demetrius Andrade and Maciej Sulecki.

The bout marks the beginning of the second phase of Parker’s career – and the start of the road to becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Fightnews.com reported that Parker and American Jarrell Miller turned down an opportunity to fight Usyk, according to his promoter, Alexander Krassyuk.

Usyk (16-0, 12 KO's), 31, is the current undisputed cruiserweight world champion, but wants to move up a weight class to take on the best in boxing.

Cruiserweight is the weight division below heavyweight.  

Higgins took to Twitter to on Sunday to deny that they'd rejected a deal to fight the Ukrainian, tagging the reporter in the post.

The 26-year-old Samoan-Kiwi knocked out Flores in the third round igniting fresh hopes of a swift comeback to world heavyweight contention.

Former super heavyweight champion and trainer Sua Henry Schuster says Parker was ruthless at Christchurch's Horncastle Arena.

"It's good to see he brought plenty of attitude to the ring. His mindset was pretty good. The opposition is there to hurt you and it was good to see a change in his mindset."

"Trainers can only help but the last part of the story happens in the ring and it was good to see Parker finish on a high."

The former WBO world champion has fallen to seventh in the ratings produced by the self-proclaimed 'Bible of Boxing', with Britons Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury filling the top two spots, followed by American Deontay Wilder.

Cuban Luis Ortiz, American Dillian Whyte and Russian Alexander Povetkin round out the top six, with Parker next.

"If that's how they rank it, then of course, I don't have much to say about that," Parker told RadioLIVE's Sunday Sport. "It's highly respected.