Team Parker must stop moaning
OPINION: Joseph Parker’s team is doing itself no favours with its constant moaning.
For the third fight in a row Team Parker is unhappy with the officiating in the United Kingdom.
They have some justification for their latest grievances over the influential second-round headbutt and the questionable rough house tactics by Dillian Whyte in the rugged Brit’s unanimous points win in London last weekend.
But they have missed the boat. These problems should have been raised immediately and been a hot issue in the instant aftermath to the fight.
Instead they were gracious in defeat, conceding the better man had won but are now crying foul.
On a public relations front, it’s not a good look.
Going to Britain to cash in on the massive money there was never going to be an easy ride.
Fighting in the opposition back yard has been the toughest assignment for any boxer as long as the sport and its subjective judging systems have existed.
That was hammered home when Team Parker discovered the refereeing arrangements for Parker’s debut against Hughie Fury last September.
For Parker’s subsequent British fights against Anthony Joshua and Whyte, Parker’s handlers signalled satisfaction with both refereeing appointments.
Yet they have blown up big time as they have digested two defeats that have cost Parker his world title and then a chance to get back in the frame.
This is nothing new. Parker’s handlers should look in their rear view mirrors at the similar claims from opposition camps labelled at the Kiwi’s scratchy wins over Andy Ruiz Jnr and Fury.
Parker got the rub of the green there.
When you’re operating in an ultra competitive environment like the current heavyweight division, you are going to win some and lose some.
The Whyte fight was always going to be a risky assignment coming so quickly on the back of the loss to Joshua, simply because of Whyte’s mongrel factor and home advantage in an arena next to his Brixton neighbourhood.
When you are taking your game offshore, those risks increase. That’s a fact of this ruthless game – a visiting fighter is probably giving away a couple of close rounds simply because of the influence the local environment has on officials.
It’s too late to moan about the referee and Whyte. The Team Parker inquisition needs to look at its own methods.
You didn’t need to be a boxing brain to realise that Whyte’s biggest attribute was going to be attitude rather than technical skill.
Parker, who came out strong, failed to match that for far too much of this fight.
Yes, the headbutt may have influenced that. But Parker failed to be the influential figure when it mattered most.
If the referee wasn’t going to do anything about Whyte’s tactics, then the answer was to fight fire with fire.
No bully likes a taste of his own medicine as Parker showed with his late rally. But by then it was too late.
And it’s too late to start moaning about it four days after the fight.
Parker has done well to win some fans and influential friends over a busy year in Britain.
But he is risking those with these continuous complaints.
The reality of this brutal sport is that sometimes you have to take things on the chin.