11-24-2016, 03:06 PM
Joseph Parker: Andy Ruiz is right, I was rubbish against Carlos Takam
Joseph Parker is happy for Andy Ruiz to rubbish the Kiwi heavyweight's performance against Carlos Takam.
That's because Parker agrees with the Mexican.
Ruiz's camp claim they are limiting their analysis of Parker's previous performances, preferring to work on their own strengths in the leadup to the WBO title fight in Auckland on December 10.
But they admitted they have had a decent look at Parker's rugged unanimous points win over the respected Takam back in May and made it clear they weren't impressed with the performance that earned him the No 1 ranking with the IBF and mandatory rights to that organisation's title.
Ruiz felt Parker's efforts there showed he would play into the pressure game he plans to employ against the Kiwi.
"In his fight against Carlos Takam he didn't really look that good, he's not good fighting backwards. That's going to be my advantage, pursuing him and throwing my combinations," Ruiz told Fairfax.
Ruiz wasn't getting any arguments from Parker when that was put to him, though the 24-year-old warned he was a different fighter now after learning the lessons of a difficult buildup to taking on Takam.
"I agree with him. When I look back at the fight I wasn't really impressed with my performance. I watched the fight twice afterwards and I felt like it was rubbish," Parker said.
"It was good getting victory because of what it meant - getting the mandatory position. It was good to know that I could win a fight like that not at my best, to be able to dig deep gave me a lot of confidence.
"So if they are judging me on that fight, that's good, because I'm a different fighter altogether.
"What do I put that down to? Well, me and Kev (trainer Kevin Barry) are still learning in camp and we saw a few things we did wrong in camp (then). So each camp we are making adjustments that we know will work a lot better."
Parker extended his usual 8-9 week camp to 12 weeks for the Takam fight, given the importance of what was at stake. It backfired. An overworked Parker collected an elbow injury and wasn't at his best in movement or power. He struggled with some defensive work, getting caught on the ropes, and failed to put Takam away mid-fight when he had the Frenchman stunned.
He knows he can't be as sloppy against Ruiz who has more speed and power than Takam.
Parker and Barry have gone back to an eight-week camp for the Ruiz fight, happy to have the conditioning factor there from a busy year which has allowed them to work on skills and a fight plan.
Parker has also taken on a new strength coach since the Takam fight, and feels the benefits of that was shown in his explosive demolition of giant Russian Alexander Dimitrenko last month.
He believes that further time under the strength coach since then, working on cross-fit exercises, will see him even better equipped for the considerable challenge of Ruiz.
"We saw the big difference in sparring, everything felt stronger, it felt like the movement was much better, and we were able to execute the plan in the Dimitrneko fight," Parekr said.
"We've been trying different things, the whole body feels stronger. I think with this you are going to see a little step up from the Dimitrenko fight."
- Stuff
Joseph Parker is happy for Andy Ruiz to rubbish the Kiwi heavyweight's performance against Carlos Takam.
That's because Parker agrees with the Mexican.
Ruiz's camp claim they are limiting their analysis of Parker's previous performances, preferring to work on their own strengths in the leadup to the WBO title fight in Auckland on December 10.
But they admitted they have had a decent look at Parker's rugged unanimous points win over the respected Takam back in May and made it clear they weren't impressed with the performance that earned him the No 1 ranking with the IBF and mandatory rights to that organisation's title.
Ruiz felt Parker's efforts there showed he would play into the pressure game he plans to employ against the Kiwi.
"In his fight against Carlos Takam he didn't really look that good, he's not good fighting backwards. That's going to be my advantage, pursuing him and throwing my combinations," Ruiz told Fairfax.
Ruiz wasn't getting any arguments from Parker when that was put to him, though the 24-year-old warned he was a different fighter now after learning the lessons of a difficult buildup to taking on Takam.
"I agree with him. When I look back at the fight I wasn't really impressed with my performance. I watched the fight twice afterwards and I felt like it was rubbish," Parker said.
"It was good getting victory because of what it meant - getting the mandatory position. It was good to know that I could win a fight like that not at my best, to be able to dig deep gave me a lot of confidence.
"So if they are judging me on that fight, that's good, because I'm a different fighter altogether.
"What do I put that down to? Well, me and Kev (trainer Kevin Barry) are still learning in camp and we saw a few things we did wrong in camp (then). So each camp we are making adjustments that we know will work a lot better."
Parker extended his usual 8-9 week camp to 12 weeks for the Takam fight, given the importance of what was at stake. It backfired. An overworked Parker collected an elbow injury and wasn't at his best in movement or power. He struggled with some defensive work, getting caught on the ropes, and failed to put Takam away mid-fight when he had the Frenchman stunned.
He knows he can't be as sloppy against Ruiz who has more speed and power than Takam.
Parker and Barry have gone back to an eight-week camp for the Ruiz fight, happy to have the conditioning factor there from a busy year which has allowed them to work on skills and a fight plan.
Parker has also taken on a new strength coach since the Takam fight, and feels the benefits of that was shown in his explosive demolition of giant Russian Alexander Dimitrenko last month.
He believes that further time under the strength coach since then, working on cross-fit exercises, will see him even better equipped for the considerable challenge of Ruiz.
"We saw the big difference in sparring, everything felt stronger, it felt like the movement was much better, and we were able to execute the plan in the Dimitrneko fight," Parekr said.
"We've been trying different things, the whole body feels stronger. I think with this you are going to see a little step up from the Dimitrenko fight."
- Stuff