Parker’s trainer picks fight with promoter
Joseph Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry is at odds again with the Kiwi heavyweight’s promoters as he gets set to fight on his biggest stage in Germany this weekend.
Given Parker’s inactivity and the size of this opportunity to feature on the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko’s world title defence against Alex Leapai, Barry was desperate for a warmup fight for his young charge.
Barry had lined up a comfortable bout for Parker in Las Vegas last month on a Dan Goossen fight night.
But he got a flat ‘‘no’’ from promoters Duco Events who didn’t want to risk Parker ahead of his date in Germany.
‘‘Joseph hasn’t fought for more than six months. For a young guy at this stage of his career, inactivity for six months is quite a big issue for me,’’ Barry said.
‘‘If we were talking about a guy who has been a pro for six or seven years, then six months inactivity is not an issue. But you want to try to keep a young guy busy. It’s a reason for concern.’’
Complicating Parker’s situation has been his recovery from a badly cut eyebrow sustained in his second round win over Afa Tatupu in October that required surgery and a longer than planned break.
‘‘With that inactivity it’s important to get the Joseph Parker train back on the rails,’’ Barry said.
‘‘I wanted a lead-up fight, a tuneup fight. It was important to me. I sat down with promoters Dean Lonergan and Dave Higgins. They knew where I was coming from.
But they just said, ‘‘we have a big investment in this, it’s too risky’’. I wasn’t happy.’’
Lonergan confirmed the meeting and Barry’s concerns. But he defended his reasoning for keeping Parker in cotton wool ahead of Sunday’s fight in Oberhausen.
‘‘It took so much work to get him on this card,’’ Lonergan said of showcasing his fighter to a global market.
‘‘We’re in a position to get worldwide exposure with this Germany fight.
‘‘We couldn’t gamble on that by risking Joseph hurting his hand or getting a nick on his eye. We’re comfortable with our decision.’’
The pressure has eased somewhat with the late withdrawal of Parker’s Bahamian opponent Sherman Williams, a vastly experienced fighter who has been knocked out just once in a 52-fight career.
Replacement Marcelo Luiz Nascimento from Brazil doesn’t have Williams’ experience. But he does have other attributes, including significantly more height and reach and a powerful armoury that has seen him win 15 of his 17 fights by knockouts.
Barry’s concerns – and his willingness to express them publicly – continue a trend of conflicting approaches with the management of the 22-year-old Parker who is just seven fights into his professional career.
Duco are keen to see Parker significantly challenged with each new fight.
They want to push him hard and fast. Barry would like to see a more protected approach with some of the match-making.
Last year Barry twice ripped into Duco over their handling of Parker.
He was unhappy with the decision to line Parker up against South African veteran Frans Botha, especially with it being Barry’s first time in Parker’s corner, a cunning deal that came at late notice before the fight.
He was also infuriated by Duco incentivising Botha by offering him a lucrative fight with David Tua if he could beat Parker.
Then Barry hit out at Duco offering Sonny Bill Williams $1million to fight the winner of the Parker-Tatupu fight, feeling that was a massive bounty for the hardhitting but lowly paid Tatupu to lift his game.
In the end, Parker dealt with both challenges, scoring successive second round knockouts of both Botha and Tatupu, though the win over Tatupu came at the cost of that nasty facial cut that is still to be tested in the heat of battle.
Barry said his relationship with Duco was healthy but he would continue to fight for his fighter.
‘‘They [Lonergan and Higgins] wear a different hat than me,’’ he said. ‘‘My concern is Joe and having him at his best on any certain day.’’
Parker was buoyed yesterday by the arrival of his parents and younger brother in Germany to watch the fight.
‘‘They are my greatest supporters and having them there gives me some extra drive when I’m in the ring,’’ Parker said.
‘‘You have a lot of people screaming when I’m fighting but there are certain voices that you can hear and I can definitely hear my mum’s voice through it all. I’m grateful that they can attend.’’