AJ: Will Parker handle the pressure?

Anthony Joshua has questioned Joseph Parker’s ability to withstand the mental pressures that come with the scale of their world heavyweight boxing title unification fight.

WBO champion Parker and WBA and IBF champ Joshua square off in Cardiff on March 31 with 78,000 fans expected to pack the Principality Stadium.

It’s a far cry from Auckland’s Spark Arena or Manukau’s Vodafone Events Centre, where Parker has enjoyed success in front of friendly home crowds on his way to a 24-0 professional record.

British promoter Eddie Hearn questioned whether Parker might ‘‘lose his head’’ under the pressures of the Cardiff bout and Joshua continued that theme.

‘‘I think you can either become overwhelmed or perform under pressure – it’s either or,’’ Joshua told the Daily Mail, adding he felt comfortable after fronting 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium and 78,000 at Cardiff for last year’s big wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Carlos Takam.

‘‘I think I’m at a stage now where I don’t know everything but in terms of being thrown in the deep end, with the Klitschko and Takam fights, how I felt with the Klitschko bout is different to how I felt for the Takam fight and it should be different for the Parker fight due to experience.’’

Then he turned the mind games on Parker.

‘‘It will be interesting to see how he copes, as it is daunting,’’ Joshua said.

‘‘It is showtime and everyone is watching now. It’s not only the fight night, remember it’s the whole build-up in terms of the press conference, the fight hype, the build-up and the interest – everything will probably be bigger than what he’s used to.’’

Parker is confident he can handle the situation, telling Stuff he would feed off excitement rather than nerves for the fight.

‘‘It will be massive. But to be honest, I’m more excited than nervous. I don’t care who is watching, I’m going to just treat it as another fight, fighting another fighter,’’ Parker said.

‘‘I know he will bring his A-game but I think these big events bring out the best in me and I’m looking forward to putting in an A-plus performance.’’

Joshua again hit out at Team Parker’s tactics. They have taunted the big Brit over his ‘‘glass chin’’, ‘‘robotic’’ fighting style and evendoping.

Joshua used Klitschko as a comparison, saying the former long-term champion had taken a respectful approach.

‘‘They’ve got to be who they are but sometimes I think that they do it for an act,’’ Joshua told the Daily

Mail.

‘‘Klitschko was straight up. There wasn’t too much trash talk or disrespect but he got his message across that he’s obsessed with winning and so on.’’

‘‘He said his little sly remarks but they weren’t like ‘Anthony’s a bum … he can’t perform’. That’s why I’ve always said I respect Klitschko but some of the other heavyweights I don’t.

‘‘That’s just my opinion. If that’s their way of trash talking you can say what you want but it doesn’t affect me as I don’t respect you anyway. You can’t really take in what someone says if you don’t respect them.’’