Parker battles the bulk

Joseph Parker is looking to lose weight and regain some of his trademark foot-speed as he enters a pre-Christmas training camp to set him up for a busy 2018.

The WBO world heavyweight champion has shelved plans for a December fight and will instead use the time to reshape his body for a year he hopes to get in line for a unification fight with either Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder.

Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry will arrive in Auckland late next week from Las Vegas to oversee a six-week camp where the focus will be on speed.

Having concentrated on bulking up over the past 18 months in an effort to handle the XXXL fighters that dominate the division, there has been a concession that approach has compromised some of Parker’s better attributes.

Parker successfully defended his title against Hughie Fury in Manchester last month weighing 112kg and, at times, he struggled to hunt down the notoriously lightfooted Englishman to deliver the knockout blow he desperately wanted.

Barry told Stuff that with Parker’s strength improved, the aim now would be for him to lose around 4kg and get more spring in his step.

‘‘We put some size on him and some extra muscle. But I want to get him back to the high 230s [around 108kg],’’ Barry said.

‘‘That’s why it is very important that we use this six weeks before Christmas to really get some good results in the gym and get his weight down.

‘‘He has done a lot of work on his legs. If you look at his legs when he first came over here to the States in 2013 and what they look like now, they have just about doubled in size.

‘‘He has big legs now. But I don’t want the extra muscle on the legs to make him less mobile and that’s why we will be doing a lot of work on making his feet a little faster.’’

Barry said the decision to forgo a December fight against Japan’s WBO No 9 Kyotaro Fujimoto was a sensible move once the TV deal didn’t stack up.

‘‘It’s very, very important at the moment that we don’t rush into anything,’’ Barry said.