Former WBO world champion Joseph Parker is very familiar with both Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte.

Parker has trained side by side with Fury several times, with the two boxers sharing trainer Andy Lee.

In 2018,, Parker lost a very close twelve round unanimous decision to Whyte. In the final round of that contest, Parker was very close to knocking Whyte out.

Fury will make a mandatory defense of the WBC heavyweight title against Whyte on April 23, likely at Wembley Stadium. 

While Parker could see Whyte being competitive in the outing, he doesn't expect his good friend, Fury, to lose.

“I think its a massive fight, you’ve got Tyson Fury, the WBC champion of the world, hasn’t had a loss,” Parker said to Talk Sport.

“Dillian Whyte is always game, always prepared, always comes in ready and I had the pleasure of sharing the ring with him and he’s a very tough man. [However], I can’t see it happening [Whyte beating Fury].

“I can see [Whyte] putting on a great fight or a very hard fight for Tyson, he’s going to come in the best he can be, he has to be. I think his dangers are that he’s aggressive, he’s very good at catching and countering, and he takes risks, and he’s not shy or not scared to give it a go. I think he has to take it in the early rounds and apply pressure.”

Parker explains that Fury is a very difficult to adjust to - even during their sparring sessions.

“I trained with Tyson, I’ve seen him in the gym pretty much every day. He’s a hard fighter to figure out, you’re not sure what he’s going to bring on the day," Parker said.