Parker leaves to face angry AJ
A relaxed and confident Joseph Parker has flown to London ready for whatever Anthony Joshua throws at him in and out of the ring in what the Kiwi heavyweight terms a ‘‘life-changing’’ fight.
Parker left Auckland last night, a sure sign that his hugely anticipated world unification fight with the giant Brit will become a reality in the next couple of days.
It will be the culmination of months of tense negotiations for a $40 million-plus promotion tipped for March 31 in Cardiff where Parker could earn more than $13m.
Parker celebrated his 26th birthday last Tuesday and admitted he couldn’t think of a better present than being given the opportunity to fight for Joshua’s WBA and IBF titles to go with his own WBO belt.
‘‘This is going to be a birthday to remember. The negotiations are very close to getting locked in. Hopefully there is a great result to come with it,’’ Parker told Stuff as he packed his bags.
‘‘It is life-changing, not only for myself but for my parents and my family.
‘‘It’s been a great team effort to get to this stage and I pay tribute to my management team, and my parents, my legal team. Not many people realise what is involved with something like this, it’s so big and complicated. There are so many people to say thank you to.’’
Parker made no apologies for his team’s aggressive approach to flushing out Joshua where they have publicly questioned his ‘‘glass chin’’ and ‘‘robotic’’ style.
They have talked themselves up and now Parker has to front up. If the deal is sealed it promises to be a lively press conference in London this week when he finally comes face to face with Joshua.
‘‘Listen, I’m not scared of the guy. I don’t care if he’s angry or not, that’s part of the game. We’ve had to be aggressive to get it to this
I’m not scared of the guy. I don’t care if he’s angry or not, that’s part of the game. Joseph Parker
point,’’ Parker said.
‘‘If he has any issues with what has been happening in the media and that sort of stuff, that’s up to him. He should be able to accept the different challenges in boxing in terms of physical training, how people talk and what people say. So if he’s angry, so be it. He can get in the ring and try and bash me around. I’m going there to knock him out cold.
‘‘I feel he is a great fighter, I have a lot of respect for him and he has great power. But styles make fights and I feel like his style matches me perfectly.
‘‘I have a lot of confidence in myself. It will come down to the day, who is taking the hardest hits and who has the best day that day.’’
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, who is finalising the deal with Duco Boxing boss David Higgins, has questioned Parker’s temperament for a fight that could be staged in front of 78,000 people at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Parker scoffed at that: ‘‘If it comes off, it will be massive. But to be honest, I’m more excited than nervous.
‘‘I don’t care who is watching, I’m going to just treat it as another fight, fighting another fighter. I know he will bring his A-game but I think these big events bring out the best in me and I’m looking forward to putting in an A-plus performance.’’
If, as expected, the fight is confirmed, Parker will fly on from the London promotional activities to Las Vegas to enter an intense training camp under trainer Kevin Barry with 10 weeks till fight night.
‘‘I think 10 weeks is perfect. I think that’s enough for me to get in shape and then I’ll give it to him.’’
Parker did some ground work in Auckland with a December fitness camp before taking a Christmas break.
He’s refreshed and ready to put the final touches for the biggest fight of his unbeaten career.
‘‘I’ve been having fun, enjoying life back here and family time. It’s been an awesome holiday.
‘‘I know that once I’m in camp it doesn’t take me long to get into shape and I’m looking forward to the hard work.’