Parker unfazed by funding fight
Joseph Parker’s handlers say he has been unaffected by the divisive battle to stage his world title bout in New Zealand.
Parker is set to fight Mexican Andy Ruiz for the WBO heavyweight belt with plans to stage the event in Auckland on December 10 fading under the massive financial weight.
Duco Events confirmed yesterday they had withdrawn their controversial application for government funding via New Zealand Major Events, disappointed it had become ‘‘political dynamite’’ and a divisive issue.
They now rated the chances of staging the fight here just 20 per cent. If they are forced to hand over the event rights to Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Ruiz will gain a massive advantage with the fight switched to the United States where he has a large Hispanic fan base.
Parker is being regularly updated by his bosses at Duco while he trains in Las Vegas with Kevin Barry.
They claim the fuss isn’t affecting the unbeaten heavyweight who remains motivated by the world title opportunity.
‘‘I spoke to Joseph this morning and he says it’s the best camp he’s had to date. He’s in a really good head space, he’s not worried about any of this,’’ Duco co-owner David Higgins said.
‘‘Joseph Parker is very mentally tough, it; s one of his major strengths. He just gets on with the job in hand which is training.’’
Higgins said New Zealand remained Parker’s preferred venue for the fight ‘‘and it’s still ours and we will do everything to make it happen’’.
Higgins and his partner Dean Lonergan would crunch the financial numbers again this weekend with a view to rearranging the budget.
Lonergan said that apart from the money risk there there were also the risks involved in giving Parker the best chances to win the title.
‘‘We personally think the best thing is to have that in New Zealand,’’ Lonergan said.
He said it was hard to quantify home advantage. Studies in rugby and league suggested it was considerable.
‘‘If it gives Joe an extra five per cent chance, it’s worth the endeavour, if it gives him an extra 10 per cent, well it’s really hard to say no,’’ Lonergan said.
‘‘But again, we have fiscal responsibilities. This is a massive event but the big disadvantage is the short lead-in time we have available to make it work.’’
Lonergan also backed Parker to maintain his focus as all this swirled around him.
‘‘He knows 100 per cent he is fighting Andy Ruiz, he knows 100 per cent he’s going to be fighting inside the next three to four months and, most importantly he knows he’s getting inside a 7m x 7m boxing ring. It’s coming down to where this fight is going to take place.
‘‘Joseph and Kevin are preparing very hard right now for this. They are working towards a December 10 date and while we still have a 20 per cent chance of pulling this in, they will continue to do so until we tell them differently. It’s not over yet.’’