AJ: I’D FIGHT YOU IN A CAR PARK... FOR FREE
Joshua will earn millions in Parker showdown but wants history not cash
HE could earn up to £15million – but Anthony Joshua claims he would fight Joseph Parker “in a car park for free”.
Lewis Hamilton was the only English sportsman to earn more than Joshua last year but the unbeaten heavyweight champ says he is motivated by making history rather than money ahead of his unification clash with the WBO king in Cardiff on March 31.
After his record-breaking fights in 2017 against Wladimir Klitschko and Carlos Takam, Joshua’s target for 2018 is to unify the four main belts.
“It’s about making history now. It’s always been moving in that direction,” said the WBA Super and IBF titleholder. “I’d fight him in a car park for free. That is what I want to do – fight. The money is nice but it’s about legacy and I want to do things no one else has done.”
Joshua will make a bit more history against Parker in front of another 75,000 crowd – it will be the first world heavyweight unification fight in Britain.
It will also be the first heavyweight unification clash between two unbeaten champions, who boast a 44-0 record between them.
Parker’s promoter David Higgins tried to add more spice to the contest at yesterday’s head-to-head in a London hotel by aiming a few verbal jabs at Joshua.
Higgins (right) suggested Joshua has a glass jaw and is mentally weaker and slower than Parker.
Joshua, who is two years older than Parker at 28, joked he’d had an early night on Monday to prepare for some trash-talk and interrupted Higgins to answer his accusations.
“There’s a lot of talk about me being dropped,” he said. “But there have been only three times I have been hurt or dropped.
“The first was at the European Championships when only two weeks before I had been called back into the programme because I was banned from the GB team. I was very unfit and I got stopped, not dropped. The second time was against David Price, when I was not long out of a police cell because I’d been in a bit of trouble. The third was against Wladimir Klitschko – that taught me that no human being will stop me going where I’m going. “In terms of mental strength, it’s all good. I’ve defeated Olympic champions and world champions..” Higgins claimed Joshua’s intervention showed Team Parker were getting under his skin. “He’s rattled,” said the New Zealander. “The way he jumped in when I analysed his weaknesses shows he’s rattled. I believe Joseph is stronger mentally, has a stronger chin because he’s never been put down, and has quicker footwork and hand speed.” But Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry reckons his man will have to deliver the performance of his life to have a chance of beating Joshua.
His biggest fight so far was also in the UK, when he beat Hughie Fury on points at the Manchester Arena in September.
Barry, who trains Parker in Las Vegas, said: “Joseph needs a career-defining fight.
“Joshua got his career-defining fight when he fought Klitschko but Joseph hasn’t had that yet. He needs this to be his greatest performance.”
Parker apologised for calling Joshua the “king of steroids”.
“They accused me of being the king of pies, so that was the first thing that came into my head,” he said.
“It’s one of those things you say without thinking – it wasn’t the best thing to say.”