Champion ready for any fighter

Joseph Parker doesn’t feel the stress one would relate to preparing for a world title defence.

The WBO world heavyweight champion takes on outspoken British boxer Hughie Fury in Manchester on September 23 after their clash was postponed earlier in the year.

Fury dropped out of the Auckland bout due to a back injury but is now firing and is fighting this morning (New Zealand time).

The withdrawal forced Parker to defend his title against former sparring partner giant Romanian Razvan Cojanu — a bout he won by unanimous decision.

Parker is in the United Kingdom after watching Duco stablemate Jeff Horn upset Manny Pacquiao to claim the WBO world welterweight championship at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

He will be in the crowd for the bout and will be on the lookout for anything that could give him an edge over Fury in late September.

“He’s going to be fit. He has a great team behind him and they give him top guidance in and out of the ring,” Parker said.

While Hughie and cousin Tyson are known for their outspokenness, Parker is a typically humble Kiwi. He could easily fall into the trap of taking in the noise from the Furys but he knows that isn’t smart.

“People can say good and bad things. The most important thing is to worry about you. I don’t really care about what people say about me,” he said.

Parker will head to Las Vegas following Fury’s expected victory to enter his real preparation for the biggest fight of his still young career.

“I feel like eight weeks is the right training camp length for me,” he said. “If it’s longer than that, the body gets tired, fatigued and sore. Any shorter and there isn’t enough time. Eight weeks is prime.”

While his impending bout with Fury is his pressing and immediate focus, Parker would be remiss to not look ahead at what his trajectory towards the top of the heavyweight boxing world could involve.

But there is no sense of doubt in his mind about what he can accomplish.

“The focus is firmly on Fury now. He’s a tough competitor, so I can’t afford to overlook him. But listen, I want to fight anyone,” he said.

“I back myself to beat anyone in the world.”