Hearn unhappy with Parker’s elbows
It’s rare for someone to get the better of British boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, but Team Parker have on the eve of the world heavyweight unification fight.
WBO champion Parker fights WBA and IBF champion Anthony Joshua, who Hearn promotes, in Cardiff next Sunday (NZT).
Parker goes into the huge bout with reconditioned elbows after surgery on both arms last November and December.
That news caught Hearn by surprise – and he’s not happy.
Hearn has been critical of Parker’s recent performances as he eyed the Kiwi as an opponent for his golden fighter Joshua.
‘‘One of the reasons Parker looked so poor in his previous fight was because both of his elbows were injured. I’m not too happy about that because I wasn’t aware of those issues and it means he’ll be 100 per cent for this fight,’’ Hearn told World Boxing News.
Parker’s bosses at Duco Boxing didn’t want to alert Hearn to the surgery, fearing it would hamper what were already tricky negotiations to get the lucrative unification fight deal done; the contract was only inked in mid-January.
Now that Parker’s successful surgery is out in the open, the Kiwi camp can use it as a mental ploy in the last week before the fight.
Much of Joshua’s reconnaissance on Parker will have come from his seven fights since the start of his elbow problems at the end of 2015.
Parker has been taken the distance in four of those fights as he found himself down on arm power and struggling for knockouts.
Hearn, who has guided Joshua through 20 consecutive knockout wins since the big Brit turned professional in late 2013, admits he’s increasingly uncomfortable about the Parker fight and rates it a tougher clash than the muchhyped win over former champion Wladimir Klitschko last year.
‘‘I’m concerned about the fight; it’s a very hard fight. In a way, it’s tougher than the Klitschko fight, mainly stylistically and also, Anthony has a lot more to lose,’’ Hearn told World Boxing News.
‘‘People are starting to think Parker has a real good chance of winning this fight and he does. The odds are mad, I see it 60-40 in favour of Joshua. If he can do the things I know he can do then he wins by knockout, but Parker can do so many things that can change the fight.
‘‘We have two young, hungry, undefeated champions – it could go either way.’’