Parker bout off; Chisora and team labelled ‘cowardly’
AUCKLAND: Joseph Parker’s promoter, David Higgins, has pulled his heavyweight charge from a proposed bout against Dereck Chisora in London in April, accusing the Englishman and his connections of a ‘‘cowardly approach’’ by refusing to agree terms.
A frustrated Higgins has yet to see a contract for the scheduled fight at the O2 Arena on April 21 and said the time had run out for Parker to put in the minimum nineweek camp he requires.
Parker felt underdone for his defeat by Dillian Whyte at the same venue last July, after a sevenweek camp, and does not want to make the same mistake again.
‘‘We’ve been trying over the last month to make it [the fight] happen and have heard a lot of rhetoric, but we still don’t have a contract,’’ Higgins said.
‘‘We signalled last week that we were at the 11th hour and we weren’t going to run a short camp.
‘‘Suddenly, they’re all over me now. I got a text from Eddie Hearn this morning and [manager] David Haye has reached out. I like them both but I think their approach to the process is cowardly.
‘‘Del Boy’s [Chisora’s] approach was cowardly in that he watched his compatriot Dillian Whyte basically force Joe into a sevenweek camp with home advantage and officials and instead of trying to run a fair fight with a fair lead time — Del Boy has been in camp for three weeks.
‘‘They’re basically trying to steal a few weeks of advantage — and home advantage. There is a saying that beggars can’t be choosers, but I’m both, so this fight won’t be happening on those terms.’’
Higgins said he was working on a fight in New Zealand for Parker against a boxer who was ‘‘rising through the ranks’’. Parker’s last fight was a knockout victory over Alexander Flores in Christchurch and his next opponent would be a step up, Higgins said.
Higgins said he was open to Parker fighting Chisora in the future but under fair terms.
‘‘If they want the fight we’re going to have to potentially talk about new dates and new locations.’’ — NZME