Zach Parker folded in sickening body-shot KO on Zuffa Boxing card to shatter title hopes

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Zach Parker suffered a cruel blow as he was stopped by huge puncher Umar Dzambekov on his Zuffa Boxing debut.Parker was making his first appearance on the Dana White card at the Copper Box, looking to secure a statement win.Parker was floored by a devastating shot, that came out of nowhere and halted his ambitions of fighting for silverwareGettyHe knew victory could land him a rematch with Joshua Buatsi for the world title, if he came through his clash with Willy Hutchinson in Manchester.But it ended in disaster, as he was left folded in half on the canvas in a brutal stoppage defeat.Dzambekov downs Parker with brutal body-shot KOParker had made a bright start to the contest despite being cut early in the opener to the nose.But he looked to be a real threat in the two following stanzas, testing Dzambekov far more than in his last outing.Although the dynamite-handed Austrian sensed his opportunity in the fourth.The KO artist unleashed a hellacious whipping body shot, with the left hand crashing into the midriff of the Briton.He was sent doubled over wincing in pain from the sickening blow, that took the wind out of him.Parker tried to climb to his feet, eventually getting to his knees in a desperate race to beat the count.But he simply couldn’t recover from the frightening shot, that saw the referee step in and wave the contest.After a spell of recovery on the deck, Parker was able to stand up and accept his fate with the result read out.View Tweet: https://x.com/UmarDzambekov?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIt was a frustrating night in the end for the Derbyshire native, who had done a solid job of frustrating the rising star in the early stages.Parker loses out on Buatsi revenge world title missionOf course now it means for the 28-fight light-heavyweight, he is unlikely to secure a title shot in 2027.Parker looked to be a real option for Buatsi, having lost in a controversial majority decision defeat to ‘JB’ last November.But now his hopes have been shattered with Dzambekov instead likely to be pushing for the upper echolons of the division.It is now set to be a rebuild for Parker, who after a frustrating year, will be hugely disappointed to go out with a defeat.Buatsi may now look to unify instead or face bigger names, with Parker now out of the running.Watch Boxing on DAZN*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenueSign up to DAZN to access the definitive subscription for boxing fans.Upgrade to DAZN Ultimate from just £24.99/month, guaranteeing access to 185+ fights annually, a minimum of 12 pay-per-views at no extra cost, as well as every Lega Serie A match and other elite football access.Alternatively, DAZN Standard is just £15.99/month, with the caveat you will have to pay for pay-per-view events.Click here to sign up.