Parker backs dropping corporate fights
Champion New Zealand boxer Joseph Parker says safety must come first in boxing and he understands the decision of some gyms to no longer hold corporate fights.
The West Aucklandbased Peach Boxing gym has announced it will no longer run corporate events after one of its fighters was knocked out seconds into his first fight.
Joel Rea was seriously concussed on August 25, in his heavyweight bout at Auckland’s ABA Stadium in a corporate event run by the gym.
The 36-year-old was hospitalised for several days and underwent a number of CT scans to check for bleeding on the brain.
Rea has not returned to work since the fight, and is set to see a therapist this week to assess the severity of his concussion and the extent of injury.
He said he only had five weeks of training before stepping into the ring but his trainer at Peach Boxing disputes this, saying he had 10-12 weeks of training.
Boxing Central has also indefinitely cancelled its corporate events after an incident at the Parnell gym on April 27 left a fighter unconscious for 20 minutes and subsequently in hospital for four days.
Corporate fight nights put inexperienced fighters into the ring often as the undercard to professional matches.
Parker landed in Whanganui yesterday for a four-day trip and said that like any sport, boxing had its dangers.
HWatch video of Joseph Parker at nzherald.co.nz
“It’s their decision,” he said, of the clubs stopping corporate events.
“I mean every sport you can get injured.
“It’s a sport that if you get really injured, like for example the fight that we saw that the guy got really injured, so it’s one of those things that safety’s first . . . if you feel like you’re not up for the challenge or up for getting punched.”
Parker was due to visit the Awa Kings boxing gym while in Whanganui and said he’d offer a bit of advice on safety.
“If you want to do it — give it a go,” he said. “[But] make sure you’re doing it the right way. Getting the right training and doing the right things in order to prepare well. But safety’s first. If they’re choosing to do that then good.
“Listen, I’ll teach them what I can and I’ll give the advice that I can give them. I look forward to showing them what I know.”