THE REAPER
Joshua plots painful end for Parker
ANTHONY JOSHUA has promised to be more like a cold, calculating assassin than gung-ho warrior when he takes on Joseph Parker on Saturday.
Joshua will put his IBF, WBA and IBO belts on the line against the WBO champion in their unification fight at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
And he has vowed to break the 26-year-old Kiwi’s spirit round by round to line up a mouthwatering clash with Deontay Wilder in which one of them would become the undisputed heavyweight king.
Joshua, 28, said: “Someone asked me, if I get Parker hurt, will I go in and execute.
“But that’s where you have to be a bit clever and keep doing what you did to get them hurt.
Sniper
“When you get them hurt you can be like, ‘Bang’,” he added, throwing a pretend haymaker.
“But it’s learning how to execute in more of an assassin-style rather than brave warrior riding through on a horse slinging a weapon and killing everyone.
“They get chopped up as well. I’m trying to be a sniper – that’s probably my mindset now. Be a bit more calculating.
“And I just want Parker to realise his trainer lied.
“What he said about speed… I’ll match him for speed. I’ll match him for combination punches and footwork.” Londoner Joshua believes the rival camp has underestimated him. He reckons Parker (below) will be told he can be tagged with a left hook, hit with a right hand, ‘gas’ in round six or seven because of stamina problems – and that he can’t take a punch. AJ i nsists t hat i sn’t happening and that he will be in the fight every step of the way in round whatever. He s a i d: “My job is to knock one off the list as each round goes on and just break him down. He’ll soon realise he’s in with a real one – 100 per cent I will break his spirit and mentality.”
This is a third stadium fight for Joshua, his second at the Principality after he and Wladimir Klitschko sold out Wembley.
And he knows Parker, for whom this is a first, will find it tough in front of up to 80,000 people.
Booming
Joshua said: “A certain amount of noise can smash glass based on the frequency.
“And that sort of noise, booming, it gets you in a fight.
“The atmosphere can swallow you. It’s crazy.
“I don’t know how he will deal with it but the first time you’re in a stadium fight, you realise there are so many eyes on you.
“You become desperate and start questioning everything. Are my boots right? Are my shorts right? Do I look all right?
“There are certain situations you can handle but you see some people who aren’t comfortable in certain situations.”
Parker’s previous fight in the UK saw him defend his title against Hughie Fury at Manchester Arena last September but Joshua didn’t think his fellow Brit got his tactics right.
“I always say, ‘You don’t steal the belt, you slaughter the king, like I did with Klitschko, you take his head off’,” he added.
“You go to hellfire and back if you want to win that championship belt.”