Parker taunts find their mark with Joshua
THE beast has been stirred by Joseph Parker with heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua telling his promoter ‘‘let me at him,’’ making title unification fight negotiations appear tantalisingly close to being finalised.
Parker and his backers have been on a dedicated campaign over the last week to try to flush out Joshua, accusing him of having a ‘‘glass chin’’ as they backed the Kiwi to add the big Brit’s WBAand IBF titles to his ownWBObelt.
And it seems to be working with ongoing talks really ramping up for a fight that looks increasingly likely for London in March.
‘‘We are single digits, percentages away right now, and we have to be creative. We have to look at the revenue streams. We are already talking about REUTERS potential venues, potential dates, so it’s a good sign,’’ Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports UK, his outlet for updates that are now happening with even more frequency.
‘‘I believe they want the fight. They have done a good job on Anthony Joshua, because his message to me last night was very simple, ‘let me at him’,’’ he said.
‘‘He’s winding him up, he’s pushing the right buttons to get the bite out of Anthony Joshua and Anthony wants to fight Joseph Parker. He wants to do a job on him and we hope it’s the next fight for the spring.’’
Hearn confirmed they were continuing to try to work a deal with WBCchampion Deontay Wilder but that looked like being for later in the year.
‘‘We’re certainly further away on the Deontay Wilder fight, in terms of expectations on both sides, then we are with the Joseph Parker fight,’’ Hearn said.
‘‘I think that one looks like one that could be for the summer. But my job is simple really. Anthony Joshua has told me: ‘bring me the belts, I want to be the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world,’ and to do that, he has to go through the champions.’’