Joshua coy over weight target for Parker fight
Anthony Joshua has refused to say whether he still intends to weigh-in notably lighter for his world title unification fight with Joseph Parker.
Only last month his promoter, Eddie Hearn, said that the “obsessed” champion would be “leaner and lighter” for his eagerly anticipated showdown against WBO world champion Parker.
“I can't see him coming in more than 17st 8lbs or 17st 9lbs, which would be half-a-stone lighter than the last fight. Maybe he will be even lighter,” Hearn explained.
But Joshua has declined to confirm those expectations and has said that he may even be heavier than he
was for the Carlos Takam fight, when he tipped the scales at a career record 18st 2lbs.
Asked by Sky Sports if he would be lighter, Joshua said: “I'm not going to say because, last time I said that, I came in at my career-heaviest. “I'm not going to jinx it. Whether I'm bigger than I was for Takam, or lighter than I was for Dominic Breazeale, I will make sure I am victorious.
“I think stretching is important. Because I'm already a big guy I can tense up, naturally. I tend to do a lot more stretching now, to keep my body loose. I'm not snacking as much, which is something heavyweights can do.”
Parker has however been less coy about his weight ahead of the 31 March fight, with his trainer Kevin Barry recently reiterating the Kiwi’s commitment to shedding the pounds.
“Yes we'll come in lighter for this fight,” Barry said at the beginning of Parker’s camp. “I think it's very important that Joe is very fast on his feet and very mobile in this fight against Joshua.” Meanwhile, Joshua’s trainer Rob McCracken has warned his man that he risks coming “unstuck” if he underestimates Parker, who boasts a flawless professional record of 24-0 since turning pro in July 2012.
“He's busy, he's unbeaten, he's got quite quick hands, he believes in himself and he's got a decent game,” McCracken said.
“If you underestimate boxers like Joseph Parker, you could come unstuck, but there's none of that going on here - Anthony will take it deadly serious and get the win against Parker and then in the future, potentially box Wilder.
“But all that matters now is his next fight on the 31 March.”
Chris Froome will almost certainly be on the start line at the Giro d’Italia in May with the consequences of his adverse analytical finding still unresolved, according the head of world cycling David Lappartient.
Lappartient recently said that such a scenario at the Tour de France in July would be a “disaster” for the sport of cycling and insisted Team Sky should have removed Froome from racing while the case remains open. Froome responded by criticising the UCI president’s decision to voice his concerns through the media.
Team Sky insist they would like a resolution as soon as possible, after Froome was found to have double
the permitted limit of the asthma drug Salbutamol in his system following a stage of his Vuelta a Espana triumph in September. However, anti-doping rules do not allow the UCI to set any time limits for the case and it could conceivably drag on for months.
“When will it end? I don’t know to be honest. I hope as soon as possible. I said I hope before the Giro d’Italia but I don’t think so and I’m not sure that this is possible,” Lappartient told La Gazzetta dello Sport at the weekend’s Milan-San Remo classic race.
“We’re pushing for as soon as possible. And that’d be the best thing for the rider, the team, race organisers and the UCI. But it involves technical issues. It’s not simple and needs time. The procedure is long, questions have to be answered, documents have to be studied. Both sides have powerful lawyers and the case is far more complicated than usual.
Lappartient added that technical details between the respective legal teams are slowing the process. “I’m not authorised to say much out of respect for the WADA code. The case is at the LADS (Legal AntiDoping Services) and our lawyers and the rider’s lawyers are in discussion.
“Before passing to the next phase, we’ve got to be sure to have responded to every question. Nobody wants to risk going forward without having closed every detail. For that reason, LADS has asked some questions to the Anti-Doping Tribunal, to be sure to have followed the correct procedure.”
The Giro d’Italia begins in Israel on 4 May.