Parker out to show his true colours
Joseph Parker needs to match his illustrious Texas surroundings as he relaunches his boxing career at the Dallas Cowboys’ training complex.
The 28-year-old is in a desperate game of catchup that can’t afford another slip if he wants to rejoin the heavyweight world title mix.
The former WBO champion takes on American Shawndell Winters in Frisco on March 1 (NZ time), on the undercard to the welterweight clash between Mikey Garcia and Jessie Vargas.
The 12,000-seat indoor stadium is part of the 37-hectare complex run by the Cowboys, one of the giants of the NFL. It features a purpose-built, 300-room hotel, a Cowboys ‘‘ring of honour’’ walk and their extensive indoor and outdoor training facilities.
It’s a heady setting and Parker needs to reflect that in this performance against a little-known opponent that puts all the risk on the Kiwi.
Parker, now in his seventh year with the United States as his base, has a growing love and understanding of the NFL.
He says he’s inspired by the setting for this fight and told Stuff ‘‘the colours of my uniform will reflect that – blue and white, very similar to the Cowboys’’.
He’ll need some of their ruthless attitude, too.
It’s the second fight of Parker’s three-fight deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and, after the cancellation of last year’s juicy clash with Dereck Chisora in London, he’s now behind schedule.
‘‘This should have been our third fight of our Matchroom contract, this should be a big fight and we should have been looking at a major fight at the end of this year,’’ Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry says from Las Vegas.
‘‘We were so disappointed last year having to withdraw from that Chisora fight. We saw that as the perfect opportunity to launch Joe back into the top handful of heavyweights in the world. Because of the circumstances, it didn’t work out for us and we had a very quiet 2019.
‘‘We can’t help what has happened, we just have to make sure that we prepare properly.
‘‘We need to make every performance a very dominant and very exciting performance.
‘‘We want to fight three times this year. We need a big fight in the summer over here against a big name fighter.’’
That all adds to the pressure on Parker that already has Hearn demanding an impressive effort from him this time.
‘‘There is a lot of risk because a lot of people expect me to blast Shawndell Winters out. The risk is there of one lucky punch,’’ Parker said.
‘‘It’s time for me to get in there and take care of business. There’s nothing much for me to say, you just have to get in there.
‘‘But yeah, we need a good performance. As good as we are at boxing, at moving and out-boxing people ... everyone wants a devastating knockout, that’s what’s going to capture the attention. ‘‘I’d love to get a knockout but I’ve just got to do my best to try and hurt this guy as much as I can ... let it happen. But we need to look good to make a statement.’’ Barry says the heavyweight division is so hot that a poor performance will quickly leave a fighter on the outer.
‘‘I said to Joe, every fight at the moment is like a title fight because if you don’t perform and, god forbid that we lost or something like that, it’s just too hard to come back.’’
The gap in class between Parker (26-2) and Winters (13-2) should be evident when the opening bell rings. Parker has 114 more rounds as a pro than his opponent and with much better opposition. But there is nothing but respect for the American.
Aged 39 and only in the pro ranks since 2015, Winters has stepped up from cruiserweight and has been making some waves, winning the North American title that earned him a No 14 ranking with the WBA.
He went up a gear last year in three fights against European opposition. He lost a controversial decision to undefeated Polish fighter Nikodem Jezewski but wins over Sergiej Werwejko and, especially, the previously undefeated prospect Oleksandr Teslenko got people talking.
‘‘Shawndell Winters is on a bit of a tear,’’ Barry warned.
‘‘A lot of people thought Teslenko was going to be something and he knocked him out. For me, that makes him a dangerous opponent.’’
Parker is healthy, happy and eager for action. He’s also been getting good work.
The uncertainty over the opponent with the late naming of Winters, meant Barry and Parker were covering for every eventuality at a stage when there was even talk of a WBO eliminator against Oleksandr Usyk.
Parker had former foe Carlos Takam in for two sparring sessions last week and hopes to get in the ring with British prospect Joe Joyce this week.
‘‘We will have well over 100 rounds of sparring by the time we step into the ring. And, it has been quality sparring,’’ Parker said after finishing his second hit out with Takam.
‘‘We are not far ... we are No 2 and we’ve just got to take care of business.
‘‘It’s little steps towards getting back to where we need to be, where we want to be . . . more history.’’
‘‘It’s time for me to get in there and take care of business. There’s nothing much for me to say, you just have to get in there.’’ Joseph Parker