No more Mr ‘nice guy’ as Parker toughens up

The Kiwi heavyweight is determined to add some mongrel to his game ahead of his upcoming sequel with British veteran Dereck Chisora in Manchester. By in Morecambe.

IT’S not easy being mean, at least if you’re Joseph Parker.

The Kiwi heavyweight has a well-earned reputation as one of the nice guys in the nasty world of professional boxing, notwithstanding the longrunning legal saga over his alleged involvement in an international drug ring for which he ultimately faced no charges.

But Parker is determined to shed that ‘nice guy’ tag once and for all – between the ropes, anyway – and add more spite to his punches ahead of his rematch with Dereck Chisora in Manchester on December 19.

‘‘I’m working on it,’’ a leanlooking Parker told Sunday News from Tyson Fury’s gym in the gritty northern English town of Morecambe – where he is training under Fury’s second cousin, Andy Lee, alongside compatriot David Nyika.

‘‘It’s okay to be nice outside of the ring and be friendly and whatever, but in the ring that’s when you have to really turn it on. We’re not playing here, you can’t play boxing. It’s a hard sport, and a sport where you can really get hurt, so you have to have that switch. And I’m working on it.’’

But Parker admitted that such talk was cheap and it was time for him to deliver on his pre-fight promises after several sub-par performances that prompted some to question his hunger for the sport.

‘‘It’s frustrating, as I know what I can do and I back myself but the more I say I’m going to put on a good performance, the worse the performances are,’’ he said.

‘‘So I don’t blame the public, I don’t blame the people for not believing as I haven’t really shown what I feel and what my team feels I can do.’’

Some six months on from his first fight with Chisora, which Parker won via a controversial split decision after surviving a first-round knockdown, the former WBO champion has been working hard in the gym with Lee to ensure there is no room for debate this time.

‘‘I’ve been in camp with Andy for three weeks now. But before camp started I was here for a week and a bit just to get used to the time change and the weather and get over jet lag really,’’ he said.

‘‘Then David [Nyika] came and joined me in camp before Andy got here. So with Andy joining us three weeks ago it gives us an eight-week camp, which is a good length for a camp.’’

Parker and Lee had very little time to prepare for Chisora in May after linking up in the wake of his surprise split from longtime trainer Kevin Barry.

He felt eight weeks was the optimal time to get him in prime physical condition and devise a gameplan to take down the grizzled British veteran in his own backyard.

‘‘I’d rather fight having not trained a lot than fight overtrained as when you’re in the ring and you’ve overtrained, you’ve got no energy,’’ he said.

‘‘I still haven’t found the proper balance of overtraining and undertraining and that’s the exciting thing about boxing – I’m still learning what’s the right level, still learning ringcraft, technique and skills, footwork. It’s all exciting stuff.’’

Parker has already identified where he went wrong in his first encounter with Chisora (‘‘I should’ve started a lot faster and put punches together better than

I did’’) and vowed to remain switched on ‘‘from the first to the last bell’’ in next month’s sequel.

To achieve that laser-like focus, Irishman Lee – a student of the late revered trainer Emanuel Steward – has given the 29-yearold a punishing training schedule without any physical or mental breaks. ‘‘Andy is working on being alert and being focused for every second of every minute of every round,’’ Parker explained.

‘‘And the thing that I had in the last fight and the last training camp is that I had lapses. Do something good, then have a break. Do something good, look away. Not keep doing the good things that I’m doing but always having a break.’’

Another benefit of teaming up with Lee in the UK is that Parker gets to rub shoulders with his close friend Fury. The Gypsy King’s aura looms large over the gym at Morecambe football club’s Mazuma Stadium, where pictures and memorabilia from his career adorn the walls. A mural of him knocking out Deontay Wilder serves a reminder of his supremacy over the division.

Parker said Fury was an inspiration to him and everyone else in camp and had ‘‘made himself available to help us train, push us, hang with us’’.

‘‘It’s great to be in this environment. We’re all learning from him. It’s a great positive environment to be in with fighters all preparing for their fights. It’s nice to be away from family and friends and all the distractions.’’

Parker is evidently in a good place, both mentally and physically, and happy that he changed his coaching set-up, even if parting ways with Barry was the ‘‘hardest decision I’ve ever had to make’’.

‘‘Kevin and his family will always be family to me. But I made the move more so for boxing and just wanting to learn and wanting to be excited again and trying something different.

‘‘I feel with the environment, the country, the trainer, the team it’s just a whole new buzz.’’

Speaking of family, being on the other side of the world from his wife Laine and their three young children, who he misses dearly, is far from ideal. Parker has no idea when he will see them next, having failed to secure an MIQ spot to return home.

When asked about how New Zealand’s stringent border measures have affected his career, the Auckland native struck a more diplomatic tone than some other Kiwi sports’ stars.

‘‘I love New Zealand, because that’s where I was born, that’s where my house is, my family is, my friends,’’ he said. ‘‘But when you look around the world, you see the UK has opened up, the US opened up. I’m sure in due time

‘It’s a hard sport, and a sport where you can really get hurt, so you have to have that switch. And I’m working on it.’ JOSEPH PARKER

our country will put things in place to be more open to those who live there, but at the moment I can’t return. We’re working on it, and seeing what we can do to get home, but if we can’t, the focus will be just to stay here and keep fighting, if I can.

‘‘Obviously winning is the most important part but once you win, lock in more fights and keep fighting. That’s the only way I’m going to learn, the only way I’m going to get better and the only way I’m going to get closer to fighting for a world title.’’

To put himself back in contention for world honours, Parker must first get past Chisora a second time, which he conceded would not be easy.

But he laughed off the Londoner’s complaints at their recent press conference that he was ‘‘robbed’’ by the referee and the judges in May as ‘‘mind games’’.

‘‘There were no issues with the referee, there were no issues with the judges. A fight is a fight. If you want a dominant performance, and you want a clear win, knock me out.

‘‘It’s as simple as that. And then there will be no judges to judge the fight.’’

Chisora also claimed that Parker’s power was nothing to be concerned about.

That statement drew a wry smile from a man with 21 knockouts from his 31 contests.