Hey Joe, it’s time to clean up the trash
OPINION: It’s time for Joseph Parker to return to his ‘‘Gentleman Joe’’ persona.
He’s achieved his goal of baiting Anthony Joshua into a world heavyweight unification fight through some uncharacteristic trash-talking.
Glass jaws, robots and, foolishly, even dark insinuations of doping, have dominated the buildup to getting this deal done.
Parker has never looked comfortable fronting the campaign and now, in the interests of his own hard-won image, he should drop it and concentrate on getting into the best shape he possibly can to try to beat Joshua.
Parker has won the respect of Kiwis and boxing fans in general with his humble nature out of the ring. He’s a good guy and a very good fighter.
In a sport where most boxers attach some weird nickname to their game, no one has been able to plug a moniker to Parker.
When the idea was bandied about a couple of years ago, ‘‘Gentleman Joe’’ was about the closest it got.
Suddenly ‘‘Pie Man’’ is in the wind. It would be cruel if that stuck. But in the current climate between the two champions, it’s hard to argue that it wouldn’t be deserved.
Parker has angered Joshua so much with his constant hammerings over the past few months that the big Brit couldn’t resist a clever dig when he guested on The Graham Norton Show and jumped on his host’s belittling banter about the Kiwi heavyweight’s physique.
In a game of punch and counter punch, this was one pie in the face that Parker didn’t see coming. He’s still wiping the gravy off his chin.
Let’s hope it doesn’t stain him. He doesn’t really deserve that.
This was an orchestrated campaign by Parker’s team and he agreed to front it for the purpose of flushing out Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn and getting them to agree to the fight on favourable terms.
But playing the villain in another heavyweight pantomime appeared more awkward than award-winning.
Most of Parker’s better work was done behind the mask of social media rather than any down-the-barrell taunts where he looks and sounds less convincing.
There are around 12 million reasons why Parker decided to go down this route of ungentlemanly conduct.
He has earned himself a massive pay day. But at what price?
This was a chance for two young heavyweights determined to find one true champion – a quest that should have been conducted with dignity.
Instead, Parker has talked himself up and talked Joshua down in inflammatory fashion.
But words are cheap in a sport where actions speak louder than perhaps in any code.
In terms of expectations, Parker has backed himself into a corner where only a victory or an exceptional performance in defeat will prevent all those words from having a hollow echo to them for years to come.