Parker turns nasty for Chisora fight Tale of the tape

Andy Lee believes he has transformed Joseph Parker’s punches from nice to nasty.

Parker will need plenty of bite to his armoury when he takes on the brick-like Dereck Chisora in Manchester tomorrow.

Former world middleweight champion Lee has only been Parker’s new trainer for only a matter of weeks but is confident he has made enough impact for this tough assignment as the former WBO champion looks to force his way back into the title talk.

Lee generally liked what he saw when Parker arrived in Ireland for their initial hook-up. But he knew he had a job on his hands, targeting Parker’s concentration lapses, balance and punching technique as immediate work-ons.

‘‘When I watched how he punched and transferred his power it was very nice. It was never spiteful, it was never nasty, it was nice . . . that’s all I can use to describe it,’’ Lee told Stuff from Manchester on the eve of the fight.

‘‘It was proficient, it was good, but it would never bother anybody. You know, someone like Chisora would take it all night.

‘‘But the way he is punching now, he is punching very hard. I’ve held pads for Tyson Fury, and I’ve held pads for a lot of the big fighters out there, and Joseph is hitting hard, I can tell you that.’’

The challenge for Lee, trained in the aggressive ways of the famous Kronk gym in Detroit, is to get Parker really firing once he gets into the ring.

‘‘It’s not a style, it’s a mentality. They are all different fighters in the Kronk. They all fought differently, but it’s a mentality,’’ Lee explained of the methods of the late great trainer Emanuel Steward.

‘‘That certainly is what I’m imparting to Joseph. I don’t want to say too much about it, but it’s a philosophy. It’s about getting the knockout. It’s the aim of the game. The only way of guaranteeing a win is by knockout.’’

Lee has been quick to gell with the charismatic Parker and, like many, enjoys the Kiwi’s laid-back

DERECK CHISORA From: Great Britain Age: 37

Height: 1.87m Weight: 115kg Reach: 1.88m Record: 32-10 (23 KOs) KO%: 54.76

Rounds boxed: 268 Ranking: WBC 15

JOSEPH PARKER From: New Zealand Age: 29

Height: 1.93m Weight: 109kg Reach: 1.93m Record: 28-2 (21 KOs) KO%: 70

Rounds boxed: 177 Ranking: WBO 3, IBF 6, WBA 6 believes he is as prepared as can be for a fight taken on short notice and complicated by the hurried training camp.

‘‘Joseph has worked extremely hard and has adapted. I’ve redressed him and challenged him in terms of his technique and his movement, and he has responded well, he has never wavered. He has a good heart, and he’ll need that for this fight . . . all that resolve because it is going to be a tough fight.

‘‘If Joe boxes the way we’ve been practising, the way he’s been looking in the gym, it’s going to be a very good night for him.

‘‘But you are never going to get away easy when you fight Chisora, it is never going to be a walk in the park. Joe will have to face adversity, he will have to face some rough and tumble, but he is well up for that.’’

Lee felt Parker was capable of winning this fight several ways but would first have to weather a storm.

‘‘I think early on Chisora is going to try to upset Joseph, knock Joseph out of his rhythm. He will start fast, and I don’t even mind if Joseph loses the first few rounds as long as he maintains his composure and picks his shots and doesn’t take too much damage because Chisora will slow.

‘‘Joseph is a 12-round fighter, he has got great stamina, we have worked on that as well. And we have worked on his power endurance, so he can maintain power and speed late into the fight.’’

Lee helped engineer Fury’s incredible demolition of Deontay Wilder in their world title rematch and hinted something special could be on the cards if things pan out.

‘‘We might surprise you, we surprised everybody with Tyson Fury against Wilder, we just might do the same – you’ll have to wait and see.’’