Parker still won’t watch replay of win
Joseph Parker admits he hasn’t had the strength to watch a replay of his controversial win over Dereck Chisora but has vowed to do better if a rematch unfolds.
The New Zealand heavyweight earned a controversial split points decision over Chisora on May 2 in Manchester and is now plotting his next move.
Parker maintains he did enough to get the decision, but he hasn’t been brave enough to check that by pushing the replay button.
‘‘To be honest, I haven’t watched it back,’’ Parker told The Ring magazine where he has been elevated to No 4 in the respected publication’s independent heavyweight rankings.
‘‘I felt like I did enough to get the win, but when you watch a fight back and you know you could have done better, you sort of cringe. I haven’t had the strength to watch it, but I’ll sit down and watch it with [trainer] Andy [Lee] in due course.’’
A rematch with Chisora looks likely with British promoters Matchroom Boxing keen on a sequel.
Parker has other options and will weigh them up for the best path forward as the 29-year-old former WBO champion looks to work his way back into title contention.
Parker is eager to build on his relationship with Lee and display that in the ring.
‘‘I showed some small snippets of what we worked on,’’ Parker said.
‘‘It takes time to adjust from one coach to the next and execute [different] drills. The way Andy sees it is there’s still a lot of work to do, and I believe that if we fight Chisora again, and we have more time, there will definitely be more improvements.’’