Aggressive Parker keen to put hurt on his rival
It’s hot in London. This great old city is in the grip of a heatwave, which, combined with the influx of tourists and the political protesters around Parliament Square makes it feel like a tinderbox ready to ignite.
There have been reported water temperatures of 28degC when the normal maximum is 22C. The air temperatures are expected to rise to 34C this week — the hottest of the year.
All of which serves as a fitting backdrop to Joseph Parker’s fight against Dillian Whyte in the city on Sunday morning (NZ time).
Parker is already determined to bounce back with a “redemption”type performance against Whyte following the disappointment of his defeat to Anthony Joshua in Cardiff in April, and the flames have been stoked further by the Englishman’s “coward” taunts (for Parker being apparently satisfied with a points loss).
There is the sense that there is a harder edge to the New Zealander which has developed over his more than 100 rounds of sparring in a bit over four weeks at his Las Vegas camp.
His sparring partners, including friend Malik Scott, have worn plenty of leather as they have mimicked Whyte’s come-forward, free-wheeling style and Parker will have to display aggression at the O2 Arena if he is to rebound and keep himself relevant in the heavyweight division.
And, such is Whyte’s drawing power here — the 22,000 arena is a sellout — that a knockout victory or even a clear and entertaining points victory would allow Parker to hook bigger sport down the line.
“They’ve been taking a lot of punches in camp,” Parker said of his training partners. “You can sense it after sparring. They’ve been holding their bodies.”
He added: “I’ve shown a lot more mongrel — punching people in the balls, anywhere. I was doing everything I could to hurt the other person. At the end of the camp, in sparring sessions, I wanted to break their ribs. It’s not a nice thing to say but ... I wanted to bash people so hard I wanted to see them on the ground screaming.”
The insults will probably continue from Whyte this week and, while Parker will affect an air of indifference, they could get under his skin.
Will it matter on fight night? Parker did well against Joshua in the verbal department but it didn’t seem to make much difference in front of 80,000 people at the Principality Stadium.
“He talks a whole lot of rubbish,” Parker said of Whyte, who was knocked out by Joshua in late 2015. “He’s definitely a gold medallist in talking crap.
“I wouldn’t even get silver — I’d be way down in bronze.”