Parker’s latest father-weight test
Boxer meets baby No 2 for first time after bruising fight
Joseph Parker’s return home after his recent bruising loss to Dillian Whyte in London was extra sweet as he got to meet his second daughter Shiloh for the first time.
And the boxing star said even though his “thumping” headaches from the headbutt he received from Whyte have only just stopped, he has already started training again to get back in the ring.
Parker told of how he arrived at his South Auckland house to find daughter Elizabeth, who will turn 2 in November, waiting for him outside the front door.
After being away at camp in Las Vegas for a couple of months she was a little shy, but “I grabbed her and held her”, he said.
It was also the first time he met his other daughter, Shiloh, who was born in July, while he was away. It was an emotional time, he said, and the three have spent a lot of time in each other’s company since.
“Father life is a bit different to camp life; camp life you wake up at 5 o’clock, as a father of a newborn you’re up at 1, you’re up at 3 . . .” Parker said.
Parker revealed to the Herald yesterday the extent of the concussion injury in the second round caused by the illegal headbutt from Whyte which put him on the canvas at London’s O2 Arena.
The 26-year-old New Zealander didn’t look himself in the ring as he struggled to recover.
“Yesterday was the first day I haven’t had thumping headaches but I had an MRI scan and the doctor said there were no blood clots or any
injuries,” Parker said. “He said ‘don’t worry about it’.”
Just over a week has passed since the toughest and most dramatic fight of Parker’s life.
“There was one part of the fight when I said to myself to throw the right and the left hook which I did, but I felt like I was punching in slow motion and I thought ‘what the hell’s happening here’?”
Parker’s admissions will probably lead to more calls for him to give it away — especially given it is understood he has banked around $10
million from his last two fights — points defeats by Anthony Joshua and Whyte.
“A lot of people say I should give up and retire,” Parker said.
“I’m only 26 and I’ve only lost twice — It’s not the end of the world. I’m
still learning. You look at the champions — I’m not trying to compare — but they were great fighters and [Wladimir] Klitschko lost three times, Lennox [Lewis] lost three times, and were knocked out in their fights. No one told them to retire.
“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but I think everyone should get behind us and support us”.
He said he was committed to his plan of fighting until he was 30 or 31.
Joseph Parker has confirmed he will box on after his second successive professional loss, saying he wants to fight for another five years despite the battering he received at the hands of Dillian Whyte in London recently.
Parker made the announcement in front of a big media contingent in Auckland yesterday. He and his promoter David Higgins also said they would not appeal the unanimous decision defeat to Whyte at the O2 Arena despite the illegal headbutt in the second round which changed the course of the fight.
Parker said yesterday he felt like he was in a dream and punching in slow motion immediately after. He didn’t look himself in the middle rounds and was floored by a left hook from Whyte in the ninth before coming back and sending the Englishman to the canvas in the 12th in a dramatic last-ditch effort to win.
Had referee Ian John Lewis ruled the headbutt as such, Parker probably would have won the round, making the result a draw. But Higgins said Parker and his team had thought about it and had decided not to seek redress.
“We considered appealing and under WBO rules we definitely have grounds to appeal… serious errors were made which changed the course of the fight,” Higgins said. “That being said, we’ve taken stock and decided... we won’t appeal, we’ll just get on with the job. But we’re pleased we made some noise about it because frankly it was a disgrace.”
Parker said of the blow from Whyte’s head: “It felt like I was in a dream — dazed. Yesterday we had an MRI and we’re just waiting on the results.”
The Kiwi heavyweight, a former WBO world champion and still only