Joseph Parker is certain Tyson Fury will improve on his underwhelming performance against Francis Ngannou when he takes on Oleksandr Usyk in their huge unification bout in February.

Following months of discussions between the fighters' representatives, WBC heavyweight champion Fury will finally take on Usyk – who holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and the Ring belts – in Riyadh on February 17.

Fury's plans to face the Ukrainian were almost dealt a surprising blow in October, when he was fortunate to score an unconvincing split-decision win over former UFC Heavyweight Champion and boxing debutant Francis Ngannou.

While many believe Fury's sloppy performance against Ngannou spells bad news for his meeting with Usyk, Parker is certain he will bounce back.

Asked whether he was confident in Fury's chances of victory, Parker told Stats Perform: "Very confident. I'm very confident that Tyson will take care of business.

"Francis Ngannou is a champion himself, the UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world and he put on probably the best camp of his life and a good performance against Tyson. 

"Tyson wasn't the best, he didn't put on the best performance and best display that he could have, but he got the win which is the main thing. 

"Now he's locked in this fight with Usyk on February 17. I think locking in that big fight with Usyk has been a big change for him, and hopefully he has the best camp and puts on the performance that we know he can."

Parker managed a stunning win over Deontay Wilder on Saturday, with the duo fighting on the same card as Anthony Joshua, who stopped Otto Wallin in the fifth round.

Wallin is also backing Fury to step things up for his next fight, suggesting Ngannou's performance simply caught the Gypsy King off guard.

"I didn't think that Ngannou was going to stand any chance, but he did a really good job," Wallin told Stats Perform.

"He lasted 10 rounds, which is really amazing with the limited amount of boxing experience that he has, he did a really good job.

"At the same time, I don't think Fury looked the same in that fight. He didn't look like he was really prepared. He looked off and Ngannou is a strong guy. 

"It's probably awkward coming from MMA, it's not easy to fight those guys. But I think when Fury is going to fight Usyk, he's probably going to step it up.

"Fury really has to be on his A-game. If he is, I think that he's going to win the fight."

WBC champion Tyson Fury believes fellow Brit Joe Joyce is "the second-best heavyweight in the world" and suggested the two could meet in the ring in the future.

Joyce's stunning 11th-round knockout victory over Joseph Parker at the weekend led to talk of him fighting the likes of Fury and Anthony Joshua.

Parker had not been stopped in his 32 previous bouts, despite defeats to heavy-handed fighters such as Joshua and Dillian Whyte, and Joyce's win certainly impressed Fury.

"I've had a lovely day of watching boxing and watching all the big fights and studying all the heavyweights," Fury said in a video on Twitter.

"And I've got to say that big Joe Joyce is the second-best heavyweight in the world, behind myself.

"I've just looked at these prospects who are mandatory for the world title, Zhang [Zhilei] and [Filip] Hrgovic and everybody else. I've changed my mind and I think big Joe Joyce is number two heavyweight in the world."

Fury initially claimed to be retired after stopping Whyte inside six rounds at Wembley in April, but has since been rumoured to be in talks to fight the likes of Dereck Chisora and Manuel Charr.

The undisputed fight with Oleksandr Usyk is on hold until 2023, with the IBF, WBA and WBO champion needing time to recover from injuries after beating Joshua in their rematch in Saudi Arabia.

Fury himself has been involved in a public spat with Joshua, but it appears any plans for those two to fight later in 2022 are over after Joshua failed to meet Fury's deadline for signing the contracts.

And Fury has not ruled out facing Joyce in future, adding: "Who knows if he's number one? One day we'll have to find out who's better out of me and him.

"But at the moment I'm ruling the roost because I'm world heavyweight champion and he's not."

Manny Pacquiao will go down as one of the greatest fighters of all time and newly crowned world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk possesses a similar skillset, says Joseph Parker.

Pacquiao's decorated boxing career has come to an end, with the sport's only eight-division world champion announcing his retirement.

His decision came under a month after his unanimous points loss to Yordenis Ugas for the WBA super welterweight title.

The 42-year-old had made his boxing return against Ugas for the first time since July 2019, but the Filipino's comeback did not go according to plan in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, who has declared his candidacy in the 2022 Philippine presidential election, retires with a record of 62 wins (39 knockouts), eight losses and two draws.

Heavyweight contender Parker, who was speaking prior to the formal announcement from Pacquiao, suggested he did not want to see one of the best boxers in history fight on. 

He also thinks Usyk, who has just been crowned WBA, WBO and IBF champion after defeating Anthony Joshua, possesses some of the same traits.

"I feel like he's going to go down as one of the best of all time," New Zealander Parker said to Stats Perform.

"It is quite hard to see someone like Pacquiao to continue to fight when he had this great legacy and great career. 

"And now he can still beat a lot of guys but it is hard to see someone who is not in his prime. They keep fighting and let these guys get the better of them."

Describing what makes Pacquiao special, Parker added: "I feel like he is similar to [Usyk]; his movement, his footwork; he's very quick on his feet and also the volume of punches that he throws. 

"He throws a lot of punches and combinations. 

"And I feel like it's really hard to fight someone like Pacquiao when he's trying throwing all these punches and the movement that he presents.

"His legacy? The eight-time division champion - just the achievement of that and a lot of a lot of young fighters look up to him. 

"You have to say that he's going to go down in history and he's going to always be talked about, as an eight-time division world champion. 

"And he can give a lot back to the sport by teaching the [young] fighters, signing other fighters and just being involved as a manager or promoter, as he knows the game and set up.

"My favourite Pacquiao fight? I really like the fight against Ricky Hatton. Just the timing and precision of when he landed the big shot to finish the fight. 

"Hatton is a beast himself and has had a great career, but when you’re in the ring with Manny Pacquiao it’s a different story."

Joseph Parker overcame the shock of suffering a knockdown inside the opening seconds to record a split-decision points win over a disgruntled Dereck Chisora in Manchester.

A clash between two heavyweights with aspirations of challenging for a world title in the not-too-distant future went the distance despite an eventful start to proceedings.

The first punch by either boxer saw Chisora land a looping right hand that caught his rival cold, dropping him to the canvas.

However, Parker recovered quickly enough to not only beat the count from the referee but also quell Chisora's ensuing attempts to force a stunning stoppage.

The New Zealander – who previously held the WBO belt – was second best in the early going but warmed to his task as the rounds ticked by, aided by a probing jab that set up opportunities to attack.

His work in the second half of the bout was enough to impress two of the judges at ringside, Parker getting the nod by scores of 115-113 and 116-111.

Yet Chisora's strong opening saw the other official on duty give it to him by a 115-113 margin. He made clear his disappointment in the verdict in his post-fight interview, too.

"I can't get upset. It's horrible. I give everything. These are the results I get," 'Del Boy' told Sky Sports Box Office. "If he wants to give me the rematch, I will take it."

Parker seemed ready to do just that in the immediate aftermath, having accepted it was a close call in the final reckoning.

"We can do a rematch in the next fight," he said after improving his record to 29-2, though this was his first victory since switching to work with new trainer Andy Lee.

"It was a tough fight. I got caught at the beginning so I dug deep and stayed focused. It was close. It could have gone either way."

The fight had appeared in serious doubt on Friday due to a coin toss after the weigh-in deciding the order in which they would walk to the ring before the bout.

Chisora made clear he was ready to go home unless he came out second, though his promoter David Haye revealed how the intervention of the British fighter's mother, Viola, made sure her son stayed put.

On the undercard, Katie Taylor retained her WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO lightweight belts with a points win over Natasha Jonas.

The duo did not disappoint in a rematch of their fight at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Taylor edging it 96-94 and 96-95 twice on the scorecards, in the process remaining unbeaten as a professional.