Parker: Joshua ‘still making excuses’
New Zealander Joseph Parker has accused Anthony Joshua of failing to show him respect in their heavyweight boxing title unification clash in Cardiff.
Joshua won the March bout through a unanimous points decision and Parker – preparing for his July 29 clash with Briton Dillian Whyte in London – still feels Joshua was ‘‘making excuses’’ for the fight going the distance.
Asked by Sky Sports if Joshua had shown him respect, Parker said: ‘‘Not really.
‘‘He said if he could turn back time, he will knock me out, but I know he tried to knock me out and he couldn’t, so he’s making excuses.
‘‘He’s a nice person and humble, but making excuses is something else,’’ Parker said.
He said Joshua had power, ‘‘but I’ve been hit a lot harder from other people’’.
‘‘Three, four times [I’ve watched the tape of the Cardiff fight]. I’ve seen it a few, and got some advice. When you watch it, you’re like ‘Damn, I wish I had punched him here’.’’
Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry felt Joshua deserved a better response from Joshua and the judges.
‘‘The one thing that really sort of disappointed me a little bit, I think he could have been a little more gracious and respectful towards Joe in the ring after the fight, because he didn’t have it all his own way,’’ Barry told Sky Sports.
‘‘I don’t want to be bitter, but I thought a lot of those close rounds, we could have got.’’