By Keith Idec
To some, Joseph Parker has already won.
Whatever happens when he squares off against Anthony Joshua on Saturday night, the unbeaten WBO heavyweight champion reportedly will earn a guaranteed purse of roughly $7 million for their title unification fight. That’s an enormous sum of money for a fighter who has won two of his three championship matches by majority decision against opponents that aren’t considered top-five heavyweights.
New Zealand’s Parker is far from satisfied, though, as he prepares to pull off an upset of British boxing’s biggest star at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales (Sky Sports Box Office; Showtime).
“I feel it’s my time,” Parker said Tuesday during the final press conference for his fight versus Joshua. “I’m young, I’m fast, I’m strong and I’m determined to win. I’m not here for a show or a payday. I’m here to take those belts back. I’m here to be part of history, and I’m not just doing it for myself. I’m doing it for my team, my family and my country.”
The 26-year-old Parker is undefeated (24-0, 18 KOs), but Joshua still is consistently listed as an 8-1 favorite.
England’s Joshua, 28, has knocked out all 20 of his professional opponents. Based largely on his 11th-round stoppage of former champ Wladimir Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs) on April 29 at Wembley Stadium in London, the IBF/IBO/WBA champion is widely viewed as boxing’s best heavyweight.
“I see him as a great champion,” Parker said. “The reason why we wanted this fight is because we respect him, we respect what he has achieved in the boxing world, we respect his team and what they’ve been able to achieve on this side of the world. And we love challenges. And we see him as a big challenge, which is the reason we wanna fight him. And we both have weaknesses and we both have strengths, and it’s whoever’s gonna put on the best display on fight night.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.