American dream should be pursued

Joseph Parker and his promoters at Duco Events have been seduced too early by the lively UK scene and the struggles that come with that have quickly surfaced in this problem-plagued promotion with Team Fury.

The UK heavyweight division may be hot right now but the US remains the traditional home of the sport.

Parker knows the US, is comfortable there after living and training in Las Vegas since 2013. It’s basically his second home, yet he has struggled for profile, content to build his name and earn his reputation in New Zealand.

The US always seemed a likely stepping stone, especially when Duco Events scored a coup by signing a deal with legendary American promoter Bob Arum in the leadup to the WBO world title fight with Andy Ruiz.

Yes, they got stuck in a hard place with Fury bemusingly being awarded the mandatory challenge and bringing a British equation into the title defence.

But that doesn’t mean Parker has to dedicate his future to old Mother England, especially given this embarrassing buildup to his UK debut that has had zero profile in Britain and is being thrown on YouTube.

Fury’s backers have appeared amateurish compared to the respected skills of Arum who is eager to get Parker on to the big stages in Vegas, New York and Los Angeles and make him a pay-per-view star in the biggest TV market of all.

Parker is the champion and needs to be dictating his own terms, providing he can get past what has become an unnecessarily risky defence in Manchester.

The perils of operating in Britain have been quickly rammed home, especially with the British Board of Control refusing to budge on their appointment of a neutral referee and neutral judging panel for a genuine world title fight.

Parker is still young enough and good enough to develop his game further wherever wants. A solid round of fights in the US makes sense, rather than being lured too quickly into the perils of the UK and the sharks that swim there in and out of the ring.

Everything seems to being gearing to a super showdown with British star Anthony Joshua, a megamoney fight to unify belts.

Don’t forget there’s a WBC belt wrapped around the waist of American Deontay Wilder that would only add to Parker’s stature and ongoing bargaining power. It appears a less risky unification fight than Joshua and one that would cement him as a superstar in the States.

Work towards that, piling up wins, money, and profile and then, as the WBO and WBC champion, Parker with Arum and Duco behind him, could be the ones telling Joshua what the deal is.

Joshua himself is desperate to make a name in the United States.

Get past Fury and the doors to bigger and better things beckon for Parker.

They needn’t be in the UK but they must be on his terms. He’s got a belt that deserves more respect than what’s being given to him right now.

Parker could easily turn Madison Square Garden into his Garden of Eden.

‘‘A solid round of fights in the US makes sense, rather than being lured too quickly into the perils of the UK and the sharks that swim there.’’

Duncan Johnstone