I did it MAY way
HOW ZACH WAS INSPIRED TO THINK FLOYD ON RISE TO TOP
ZACH PARKER has revealed watching Floyd Mayweather Jr as a kid planted the seed for his world title dream.
Parker faces John Ryder on Saturday at The O2 in an all-English clash for the WBO interim super-middleweight title and his goal is to become world champion.
The unbeaten Derby fighter was inspired by Mayweather and recalled the huge impression the legendary American made on him when he beat his hero Ricky Hatton in 2007.
Parker, 28, said: “I remember watching it live with all my family in the middle of the night.
“We all used to stay up together and get excited about it.
“We all loved Ricky Hatton and we saw all the fans he took over to Vegas – it gives you goosebumps just thinking about it. I didn’t know who Floyd Mayweather was until he fought Ricky Hatton.
“After he won, I said to myself, ‘I need to watch this Floyd Mayweather, I like his style and his clever movement.’ He had a big effect on me.
“I saw him I and I thought to myself, ‘I want to be a world champion’ but when it’s this close, you don’t think it’s true.
“I’m so close to fulfilling my dreams and I’ve been boxing since the age of four.
“My dad was a boxer, my brothers were boxers, my cousin is a boxer, we’re a boxing family and hopefully I will bring back that world title to Derby.”
Parker, who is 22-0 with 18 KOs, has had to be patient and twice he saw fights for the WBO interim title against Demetrius Andrade fall through, including one in May at the Derby fan’s beloved Pride Park.
He has not fought for a year due to those two postponements but now has the incentive of landing a shot at the title held by Mexican legend Canelo Alvarez if he can beat Ryder.
“It’s been a frustrating year to be fair,” he said.
“I was meant to fight at Pride Park. Then he pulled out with a supposed shoulder injury but I never saw any scans.
“It got scheduled again but he was nowhere to be seen.
“We’re here now with John Ryder at The O2 and I feel it will be a lot better fight than Andrade.
“With him, he would have made it awkward. With John Ryder, you know what you’re going to get with him.
“He’s going to come and bring it and I’m going to bring it as well.”