ZACH WANTS TiTlES, liKE MASON
ZACH PARKER wants to start winning the big titles and become a champion — just like Chelsea and England star Mason Mount.
The WBO’s No.1-ranked super-middleweight contender is a big Derby County fan and spent time with Three Lions midfielder Mount during his year on loan with the Championship club.
Parker has watched Mount develop from loan star with the Rams to Premier League and England regular and Champions League winner in the past three years.
And as he eyes battles with the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Chris Eubank Junior, the 27-year-old fighter wants to emulate the success his pal Mount has enjoyed on the football field.
Parker said: “I met Mason when he was playing for Derby.
“That was a couple of years ago now. He has been smashing it, playing well and gets better with every game.
“Seeing him win the Champions League is 100 per cent extra motivation for me.
“Seeing these young lads coming up and smashing it for themselves, I’m buzzing for him.
“He was only a young lad at Derby, he has grown up at Chelsea and, hopefully, he can get the Euros now as well.”
Parker is the mandatory challenger with the WBO for Mexican Canelo’s supermiddleweight crown and would love that fight.
“Canelo wants to make the undisputed fight with Caleb Plant so I’ll wait and take the belts off him in one,” Parker added, laughing.
“In all seriousness, though, I came into boxing to do that.
“When people say, ‘Will you go and be in awe of him?’, I say, ‘No, I’ve been waiting for this all my life’.”
those youngsters to see and play alongside someone like Gareth is something these guys can aspire to.
“I remember when we were young he was a left-back, but he has slowly made his way forward, he has been a No.9, he has played everywhere.
“That versatility is so valuable to Wales.”
After waiting 58 years for an appearance at a major championship, Wales are making up for lost time.
“There were a lot of years of hurt, losing in play-offs, penalty misses – we were always so close,” Vokes said.
“The professionalism and the backroom staff and the set-up that goes into all this has changed so much over the years.
“A lot of it comes from the youth department as well. Pagey took the Under-21s before and a lot of the lads coming into this tournament worked with him.
“The emphasis that Wales put into that youth set-up will keep going and get even stronger.”
A match in Italy is unlikely to faze a team that has previous against some of Europe’s biggest sides, most notably Belgium in that last-eight clash in 2016. “It was such a big occasion for all of us,” said Vokes.
“To beat the favourites for the tournament 3-1 in the quarterfinals was surreal.
“The sort of moment that we’ll always remember and the sort of moment the fans watching in the pub will remember, too.
“It took a while to realise what we had achieved. The underdog feeling made it even nicer.”