Parker must take his foot off the brake

JOSEPH PARKER says he wants to take the fight to Dillian Whyte – to hurt him.

Good, because to win the way he wants, to get people excited, he is going to have to bite down on his gum shield.

In his first fight in the UK in defence of his WBO heavyweight title, Parker laboured through a dull stand-off to outpoint Hughie Fury.

In his second against Anthony Joshua, he was way too passive. He was never going to get past Joshua in his own backyard by boxing on the back foot.

One thing for sure, he won’t have to go looking for Whyte at the O2 tonight. That is what makes this such an exciting fight.

It’s a crossroads contest for Whyte and Parker (both above). Whyte wants to prove he belongs at the top level. He has been in some barn burners, but has yet to demonstrate the requisite finesse.

He had a crucial duel against Dereck Chisora. We are talking about levels. Chisora is as game as they come, but the really good guys overwhelm him.

Consistency is the key. Whyte can look great against good fighters, yet poor against ordinary opponents. Mark Tibbs has done a good job in polishing him up since the Joshua defeat. Now is his opportunity to do a job on a fighter who has demonstrated the greater boxing IQ. Parker has to show something if he is to get people to believe in him. He has decent power, a great chin, he is not afraid to fight away from home and at 26 has improvement in him.

But to get back in a ring with Joshua or tempt Deontay Wilder, he has to step up and win impressively against a game opponent, who has yet to prove he can campaign at world level.

I see Parker coming out on top on points, but it could be close.

WBC champion Mikey Garcia (above) returns to lightweight in a unification fight against IBF champion Robert Easter Junior in Los Angeles.

Easter is a tall and rangy banger who unleashes long, slashing punches. He should have the tools to trouble Garcia.

Garcia is a four-division world champion, one of the world’s best pound for pounders. Whatever Easter brings, Garcia will find the answer and it should be explosive.

We might even see Garcia on the seat of his pants before landing the KO.