Leading the charge is New Zealand Professional Boxing Association president Lance Revill, who said the Mexican was "robbed" and that the result made him "embarrassed to be a New Zealander".
Parker (24) was given the decision after 12 rounds, one judge scoring it 114-114 and the two others 115-113. Revill, by contrast, scored it 118-111 to Ruiz.New Zealander Parker was relaxed about the naysayers, saying he understood the doubt because it was a close fight.
"I don’t blame them, it was a very close fight," he said.
"But deep down inside I know I won, I know that I did enough to get the victory."
Trainer Kevin Barry said: "I thought that Joe scored with a lot of clean punches with his left jab from the outside. We had three independent judges from three different countries around the world that we had no affiliation with".
Parker looked relaxed and rested yesterday after his efforts of the night before. There were no discernible marks around his face, whereas Ruiz was heavily marked and bruised, particularly around his eyes, which were bloodshot.
Parker arrived at a celebration for his family and friends at a downtown Auckland bar yesterday after watching a broadcast of heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua knock out American Eric Molina in a defence of his IBF title, for which Parker is mandatory challenger.
Immediately after the fight in Manchester, it was announced Joshua would fight Wladimir Klitschko for the IBF and WBA titles on April 29, a mega fight and by far the toughest challenge of Joshua’s career.
Parker said of 28-year-old Joshua: "He looked great, he looked strong. Klitschko got in the ring later — they’ve got their fight in April. It’s good to see the old dog and the new dog. They’re going to have a great fight, a fight that everyone wants to see.
"He’s cool and calm, a respected guy. But also he’s got a lot of power. I liked what I saw. I respect him as a fighter — he was good. [But] no fear, you bring me into a ring with Joshua, I’ll back myself any day."
Meanwhile, Sky TV would not say how many people legally paid to watch Saturday’s fight but had no problems highlighting the "huge" numbers trying to watch it illegally.
Sky spokeswoman Kirsty Way said there were a "huge number of people illegally streaming the fight".
"We’re talking at least into triple figures. We were kept really busy taking them down."
When asked how many people paid to watch the fight through Sky’s pay-per-view Arena channel, Way said the numbers were "confidential".
"But we’re very happy with the numbers."
Duco CEO Martin Snedden said that while the numbers did not match the reported 85,000 who bought the 2009 all-New Zealand heavyweight clash between David Tua and Shane Cameron, they were still "really good".
