Costa Junior was out before he hit the canvas. Parker's punch was set up with a left hook, and the accuracy and power was a perfect example of just how far he has come in a short time.
Trainer Kevin Barry set Parker a challenge to finish the year on a high before his planned holiday in Samoa, and his 22-year-old charge took it. The nature of the win over a fighter ranked 15th by the WBO is likely to make the heavyweight division sit up and take notice. Parker's 10th ranking in the WBA is also likely to rise following this.
"This was the final exam that Kevin was talking about and I think I passed it," a jubilant Parker said following his victory in the main event of the Fight for Life event in Hamilton.
"He has heavy hands," Parker said of his opponent, who had never before been stopped in 16 professional fights.
"I'm just grateful for this victory."
Parker was moved to help his stricken opponent off the floor, a sportsmanlike gesture in keeping with his genial nature out of the ring. He wished the Claudelands Arena crowd, who were on their feet for the knockout and the aftermath, a merry Christmas before leaving.
Walking to the ring in his customary purple hooded robe, Parker was as regal in the early rounds as the colour suggests.
The plan was to work Costa Junior's body and he did that and more. Parker couldn't knock out Sherman Williams in his last fight in October as he was targeting the head too much, especially early. This time his punches ripped Costa Junior's body.
The power was evident even when his opponent, who presented a large, and relatively cumbersome target, covered up.
Costa Junior's best round was the third, but Parker finished that on top, too, landing a perfect left hook to the Brazilian's jaw.
The end came 31 seconds into the fourth, Costa Junior hitting his head on the canvas.
"That was by far Joseph's most impressive performance," Barry said. "This shows just how far he has come. That's why he's ranked 10th in the WBA and this time next year he'll be ranked a lot higher."
Parker, who is now undefeated over 12 professional fights, with 10 knockouts, is now planning on a holiday in Samoa with his parents, before returning to Las Vegas in mid-January. He will probably fight the first of his five or six fights next year in March.
Fellow Duco fighter Jeff Horn also scored an impressive victory over a Brazilian opponent last night.
Horn, a Queenslander recently signed to a long-term deal by the New Zealand company, knocked out the previously-undefeated Robson Assis in the fifth round.
In what was a brutal encounter, Assis, who was cut above his left eye in the first round and was dropped twice in the fourth, was finally felled by a body shot in the fifth.
- NZME.
