Joseph Parker Felt Power of Costa During Sparring

By Duncan Johnstone

A chance meeting last year has already given Joseph Parker an idea of the punching power of his Brazilian opponent for Saturday night's Fight For Life feature heavyweight boxing bout in Hamilton.

Irineu Beato Costa Junior wandered into the Las Vegas gym where Parker was working with his trainer Kevin Barry looking for sparring work.

Parker took him on for "three or four rounds" and soon discovered the 34-year-old had some grunt to go with his imposing size.

"What I remember was we had big sparring gloves on and he caught me with a good punch that I felt. I definitely felt his power with his right hand," Parker said.

"That's something I have to be careful of. I've watched clips and he likes to throw that right hand, that's what he has knocked out most of his opponents with."

Since then Costa has gone on to be the WBO's Latino champion, ranking 15th with that organisation, one spot below Parker who is also No 10 with the WBA.

Coasta has secured 13 knockouts in his 15 wins, with 11 of them coming in the first two rounds.

Parker said he had been working on his defence in his latest camp in Vegas with Barry imploring him to keep his left hand higher.

The sloppy guard has been one of the few problem areas for Parker during his rapid rise.

He got clipped badly by his last Brazilian opponent Marcel Luiz Nascimento in their May fight in Germany and was also caught a couple of times by Sherman Williams (Bahamas) in his last bout in Auckland in October, a 10-rounder that went the distance.

"I've been guilty of dropping my left hand during fights. If someone catches me, it can be dangerous so we've been working very hard on that," Parker said.

He said he was feeling fresh and ready to go, determined to finish off a busy and productive year with another victory.

His record is unblemished over 11 fights with nine knockouts while Costa arrives off his first loss in 16 fights, a unanimous points decision against the well respected Christian Hammer in Germany.

"I know I've come a long way since I sparred this guy and I'm sure he feels he has too. It's going to be interesting to see how we've both developed," Parker said.

"I'm throwing more body shots to build pressure in the ring. You'll see a lot more body shots. I'm more confident throwing them now.

"It's been a great year and I just want to finish it off well and get the right result here on Saturday."

Parker said he then planned to take a welcomed break with his family in Samoa.

He's proving an increasingly popular figure on the New Zealand sporting scene with his abilities and personality.

Today he was at the Manurewa Intermediate School in south Auckland. He comfortably spoke to around 600 children at the morning assembly and then 20 children picked up boxing tips from him at a gym session.