I’ll do anything to make the fight happen. Forty per cent is what we think is a good deal.
Joseph Parker has vowed to do “anything” to make a fight with Anthony Joshua happen. But he has warned Britain’s IBF and WBA heavyweight champion that he will have to walk away and pursue the likes of Deontay Wilder unless an acceptable deal is put on the table.
Negotiations between Joshua and the WBO champion are ongoing ahead of a potential unification fight in 2018. But talks have hit an early stumbling block, with the New Zealander’s team keen to secure a 40 per cent stake in the contest.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn labelled those demands “laughable”, however, and Parker has now revealed he is willing to accept as low as 35 per cent and even change his own pre-planned schedule just to secure a fight with his British rival.
“I’ll do anything to make the fight happen,” he said. “Forty per cent is what we think is a good deal . . . that’s what our target is but they’re not on the same page as us in terms of making 60-40. So anything below 35 per cent wouldn’t be a go ahead for us,” the unbeaten heavyweight said.
“We’re looking at fighting in March or April. If they’re keen to fight [then], we’re very keen to fight. It’s time that all the heavyweight champions unified so we can see who the best in the world is. “That’s the reason why we’re trying to chase this.
“There is no real timeframe. We’re open to suggestions from their side. We have a date we want to fight on but they might have a different date so it’s about finding some common ground and meeting in the middle.” Parker has been out of the ring since his victory over Britain’s Hughie Fury in September. Joshua, meanwhile, is being lined up for a trilogy of heavyweight mega-fights, with Hearn hoping to make bouts with WBC champion Wilder, Parker and former unified king Tyson Fury to crown an undisputed king of the division.
The WBO champion is confident his and Joshua’s team can settle their contractual differences and begin a potentially historic series of unification bouts. But the New Zealand fighter claims he is prepared to forgo his “preferred option” if terms cannot be agreed.
“If it was about the money, I wouldn’t have been calling out AJ two years ago or a year ago. I was calling him out and wanted to fight him then, even at that stage, even when it wasn’t worth a lot of money,” he said. “But I’ve always wanted to test myself, I don’t mind fighting Wilder — if his team came and said ‘we have a good offer for you’ and it was a good offer that we’re all happy with, then maybe we’ll go down that route,” he added.
“I just want to fight the best out there and I think, respectfully, AJ is one of the best and Wilder is one of the best because they’re both champions. So I’d like to test myself against the best champions . . . [but] there is Tony Bellew, Lucas Browne, there are a lot of options there.
“The thing about the heavyweight division now is that it’s exciting because there are so many options and I don’t really care who I fight, I just want to fight whoever is keen to fight.”
Joshua, however, remains the New Zealander’s No 1 target. Although he believes their unification showdown could grow to become even bigger down the line, the unbeaten heavyweight has urged his British rival not to “miss out on the opportunity of two good champions fighting”.
Since their respective victories over Carlos Takam and Bermane Stiverne, however, talk of a clash between Joshua and Wilder has gathered pace.
Parker believes he is being “overlooked” and “underestimated”, something the 25-year-old, who is unbeaten in 24 professional fights, believes Joshua would be doing at his peril.
“It’s a good fight, we’re both going to throw a lot of punches, a lot of bombs. I back myself and I feel I can knock him out,” Parker said.
“I feel I have a good chin and he has been dropped a few times. I’m not saying he’s not a good fighter but he has been dropped, so I think there is a bit of weakness I can get on top of and I feel like I can KO him.” The shadow of Anthony Joshua continues to loom large over Kiwi Joseph Parker. Parker — I’ll do anything to make Joshua fight happen
Joseph Parker