Parker: Fa fight ‘make-or-break’ time
Desperate times call for desperate measures so former WBO champ tells Duncan Johnstone about the big risks of his Kiwi superfight.
Joseph Parker has labelled his fight with New Zealand heavyweight rival Junior Fa the ‘‘make-or-break’’ of his career.
The two square off in Auckland on December 11 in a fight with major ramifications for the WBO, where former champion Parker has clawed his way back to No 3 and Fa sits at No 6.
Parker has had a frustratingly quiet two years since his double losses to British fighters Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte in 2018.
Injuries and matchmaking problems pretty much wrote off 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic seriously stalled 2020 — which the 28-year-old targeted to get back into title contention.
Instead of chasing a bigger international opponent, Parker pushed for his handlers to flush out Fa, rather than waste more time.
The desperation brings risks and Parker concedes he is putting his hard-earned reputation on the line, insisting he has much more to lose than his opponent.
‘‘ I think this fight is pretty much make-or-break for me,’’ Parker told the Sunday StarTimes.
‘‘People are saying there’s a lot of pressure and big risk, and they are right.
‘‘I’ve had two losses and if I lose another one it will be very hard to climb back to the top. People will be saying, ‘ why is he fighting, he has already had his time’.
‘‘ If Junior Fa loses, he can come back having just had one loss to a former champion.
‘‘So there is a lot of risk from our side — but in saying that I love pressure and I love the risk factor of boxing.
‘‘There was no point sitting back waiting a year or even two years to get a big fight. I said to David [ Higgins, manager] and
Kevin [Barry, trainer] I’m hungry for a fight, I don’t care who it is. So everyone was on board and finally we’ve made it happen.’’
Now they have to make other things happen, mainly in the sparring department.
Hopes of having his Italian connection Guido Vianello come to New Zealand were dashed by Covid-19 immigration issues. And plans to appeal that went out the window when Vianello suffered a big cut over an eye in an unexpected draw while fighting in Las Vegas last weekend. That injury makes sparring impossible.
The lanky Vianello would have been ideal physically and now Parker has to scour the domestic scene. Parker is in good nick and is ready to launch into sparring as soon as Barry is released from quarantine in a couple of weeks, having just arrived from Vegas.
‘‘We have been reaching out to local coaches and everyone has been very helpful,’’ Parker said.
‘‘But I’m not sure if anyone will be up to the standard required and that’s why Vegas is always a great place to train. So many fighters come through there and you can spar anyone.
‘‘In New Zealand we are quite limited, and we need to find someone who can replicate Junior Fa ... he’s a pretty big guy, he has a long reach, and he’s also a good mover.’’
They are qualities that only heighten Parker’s respect for his opponent. Expected to win, Parker is also wary of the unexpected.
‘‘Even though my record shows my opponents have been a better class, you can’t take anything lightly. It’s the heavyweight game, anything can happen. Look at Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin recently. Povetkin was getting owned and then one punch took Dillian apart.’’