Barry comes off ropes to back Parker bout
He’s not Anthony Joshua or Dillian Whyte but Kevin Barry is adamant Alexander Flores is no easy beat.
Joseph Parker’s team have been vocal that their man needs an eyecatching performance – aka a knockout – to get him back on track following loses to undefeated heavyweight kingpin Joshua (22-0) and the highly rated Whyte (24-1) so far in 2018.
Parker (24-2) returns to the ring in Christchurch on December 15 against the little known Flores.
On the face of it, Flores is the perfect man. He has a credible record (17-1-1), has a high knockout ratio and earlier this year linked with legendary fighter turned promoter Roy Jones Jr.
At an identical height to Parker and just 18 months older, Flores is not too small or too old but whether he is in Parker’s class is yet to be determined.
Flores is ranked way back at 179th on BoxRec’s independent rankings. Parker is 10th.
The cynics will argue Parker is rebuilding his career against a man, down in the rankings, who is being brought in to be knocked over.
And they may have a point – only time will tell – but Flores is at least talking the talk.
Barry – who acknowledges Flores was the main sparring partner for fellow Mexican Andy Ruiz, whom Parker defeated in a close decision to lift the vacant WBO world championship belt in 2016 – is not dismissing the challenge of Flores.
‘‘Joe’s whole career comes down to this fight,’’ Barry told Stuff from his Las Vegas base.
‘‘If we were to lose this fight it would be a long road to work Joe back up the rankings,’’ Barry said.
So for those reasons, Team Parker is taking nothing for granted – especially against a guy who has 15 stoppage victories amongst his 17 wins. As it stands now, Barry says Flores is the most significant fight of Parker’s career.