Joshua issues warning to Parker
Anthony Joshua has issued a warning to Joseph Parker, declaring he’s already ‘‘leaps and bounds’’ ahead with training compared to his preparations for Wladimir Klitschko.
WBO champion Parker fights IBF and WBA champ Joshua in a world heavyweight unification bout in Cardiff on March 31.
Both fighters have started their camps and Joshua, known for his chiselled physique and work ethic, is delighted with where he is at so quickly.
‘‘Last week we did 20 rounds in the gym which I wasn’t even doing for the Klitschko fight, and what have we got?
‘‘We’re still 11 weeks to the fight. We’re steps ahead,’’ Joshua told reporters.
‘‘Obviously it’s down to performance and occasion, but in terms of steps to where we are, to replicate the Klitschko and Takam fights, we are leaps and bounds ahead.’’
Joshua put in contrasting performances to beat both Klitschko and Takam last year, winning a gunfight against the former champion with an 11th round KO at Wembley and grinding his way past Takam at Cardiff, wearing down the Frenchman for an eventual 10th round TKO.
Joshua is determined to be lighter for Parker than he was against Takam when he weighed a career-high 115kg.
He claims his current weight is 111.5kg and he is working on new ways to make sure he doesn’t add weight in the leadup to the fight, something that has plagued him in the past.
‘‘I’ve learnt from experience of training camps to still work hard but I’ve added intelligence to it,’’ Joshua said.
‘‘We’ve changed training a little bit, we’ve changed little things, diets, recovery, physio, times of training to make things work.’’
He has rescheduled the evening training sessions that often saw him arriving home at around 11pm and then eating, meaning he was having trouble digesting food.
‘‘That leads to you putting on weight. I’m not sleeping as late, I’m eating earlier and that’s affecting my weight,’’ he said, delighted with his progress under trainer Rob McCracken.
‘‘The only luxury I’ve done is put up blackout blinds, when I’m trying to sleep in the afternoon.’’
Joshua conceded there had been other errors in previous preparations; that he hadn’t managed to link his training to boxing. He has regularly been criticised for having a bodybuilder’s physique rather than a boxer’s body.
‘‘The body can only push itself so much before it breaks down. Everyone used to kind of push my body to its limits,’’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘‘Let’s say that boxing is at the peak, which is the most important, I can’t afford to train like an Olympic runner and I shouldn’t be lifting weights like an Olympic athlete or eating like a bodybuilder.
‘‘With all these things everyone was trying to maximise their position but ultimately it was affecting the boxing as everything was being maximised.
‘‘All these other things around boxing should just complement what I’m doing in the ring, not trying to match the intensity. I think it used to be real hard work before with everything – even just eating and training. Now we have all come together to balance it out.
‘‘Boxing is important and everything else is a complement around it.
‘‘What I’ve learned from the Takam fight is that my weight is important. I know I can go the rounds but sometimes when I was that heavy you have to take a round off or two off just to get your breathing going again.
‘‘If I can bring my weight down I should be able to coast through those rounds that I needed to take off. I haven’t got as much muscle mass so I don’t need as much oxygen. Now that I’m lighter I should be able to control myself more.
‘‘I think speed is in power. When you’re heavy and you try to club these durable fighters, it’s not that simple just to go ‘boom’. Just because I’m the most muscly man, it doesn’t mean I can just hit someone and knock them out. It’s the shot that you don’t see coming that knocks you out. When I’m quicker – bang, bang, bang – that’s when I can knock my opponents down a lot easier.’’
Parker is in Las Vegas with his trainer Kevin Barry, similarly promising to produce the best camp of his 24-fight professional career.