09-22-2017, 10:23 PM
Joseph Parker vows to start fast against tricky Hughie Fury
it's time to get serious for Joseph Parker and Hughie Fury with the Kiwi's WBO world heavyweight belt up for grabs.
Joseph Parker is promising a fast start against Hughie Fury, knowing he has to get on the front foot in the defence of his WBO world heavyweight title.
Parker takes on Fury in Manchester on Sunday (NZT), aware he can't let the home fighter rack up early points.
Parker was guilty of that in his title-winning effort against Mexico's Andy Ruiz and was forced into a desperate but ultimately successful game of catchup through the middle and later rounds.
Joseph Parker has been relaxed and confident in his time in Britain.
With Fury coming off an 18-month break, Parker doesn't want to allow the lanky Brit time to shake off his rust and plans on punishing him from the opening bell.
"I didn't start as fast as I wanted against Ruiz. This one I'm going to start hard and fast and let him know from the beginning," a super-confident Parker told Stuff.
With his added reach, good jab and counter-punching, Fury has the ability to make it a long and frustrating night for Parker if he can't gain early ascendancy.
It's a point echoed by Parker's trainer Kevin Barry who confirmed this had been a key part of their fight planning and training.
"If we get off to a slow start it's going to be a very difficult fight for us to win," Barry said.
"We need to take the confidence away from Hughie right from the first bell and that's what we plan on doing.
"The whole training camp we have worked on Joe starting fast. He will start fast in this fight."
As gutsy as his comeback win against Ruiz was in extraordinary pressure circumstances, Parker's most impressive victory over the last year was his warmup to that title-winning effort, when he destroyed the giant Alexander Dimitrenko inside three rounds.
Parker was merciless that night as he battered Dimitrenko to the canvas with relentless body shots.
Fury has much better footwork than Dimitrenko but if Parker can catch him, expect him to look to chop him down in similar fashion.
Parker has no fears about giving away height and reach, revelling in close contact.
The adjustment he will need to make in this fight is he won't, as he prefers, have someone coming at him and presenting a target. Fury is a clever defensive fighter and Parker will have to be the one going on the attack, looking to hunt the 23-year-old down.
A Fury trademark is the ability to clinch and tie up opponents and Parker will need to use his superior bulk and muscle to grind away in those situations.
Fury can also be elusive with his upper body - he has elastic movement from the waist and is clever fighting off the ropes.
Barry says they have worked on new techniques to counter this "awkward" opponent.
"We will be showing him things he's never seen from Joe before," Barry said.
"He talks about this being the new Hughie Fury, I don't think they will have seen this Joseph Parker. We have been waiting for this opportunity and, I know I've said it before, but I haven't seen Joe look this good."
Parker has taken the confidence from his training into the public arena, constantly voicing his belief he can end this fight early. He seems to have added snap to his punching in training.
"Our confidence is really high ... you've never heard Joe say before, 'hey, I'm knocking this guy out'. But that's what he honestly believes," Barry said.
Parker has treasured his nine months as WBO champion and has matured accordingly. But he doesn't want to stop now. He sees this as really just the beginning.
His opening defence against Razvan Cojanu was nothing more than a formality though it was a disappointing performance and certainly one that didn't help his image in Britain.
This is his chance to hammer his credentials home to the UK market and stop the scepticism about his right to be in this elite mix of belt holders.
It's also a chance to set up a potential fortune down the line, so it's a career-defining fight in many ways.
Fury is a difficult fighter to get a handle on, given his inactivity and inferior opposition.
But he's been a fighter all his life, has huge motivation and has a very canny coach in father Peter Fury, the man who master-minded Tyson Fury's upset win over Wladimir Klitschko.
That performance wasn't pretty but it was effective and Hughie Fury will do whatever he can to try to get his cousin's belt back off Parker who picked it up by beating Ruiz when it was vacant.
It's an intriguing matchup, a real mix of styles that doesn't always make for an attractive fight.
That's why Parker needs to dictate terms and make it his fight – right from the opening bell.
- Stuff
it's time to get serious for Joseph Parker and Hughie Fury with the Kiwi's WBO world heavyweight belt up for grabs.
Joseph Parker is promising a fast start against Hughie Fury, knowing he has to get on the front foot in the defence of his WBO world heavyweight title.
Parker takes on Fury in Manchester on Sunday (NZT), aware he can't let the home fighter rack up early points.
Parker was guilty of that in his title-winning effort against Mexico's Andy Ruiz and was forced into a desperate but ultimately successful game of catchup through the middle and later rounds.
Joseph Parker has been relaxed and confident in his time in Britain.
With Fury coming off an 18-month break, Parker doesn't want to allow the lanky Brit time to shake off his rust and plans on punishing him from the opening bell.
"I didn't start as fast as I wanted against Ruiz. This one I'm going to start hard and fast and let him know from the beginning," a super-confident Parker told Stuff.
With his added reach, good jab and counter-punching, Fury has the ability to make it a long and frustrating night for Parker if he can't gain early ascendancy.
It's a point echoed by Parker's trainer Kevin Barry who confirmed this had been a key part of their fight planning and training.
"If we get off to a slow start it's going to be a very difficult fight for us to win," Barry said.
"We need to take the confidence away from Hughie right from the first bell and that's what we plan on doing.
"The whole training camp we have worked on Joe starting fast. He will start fast in this fight."
As gutsy as his comeback win against Ruiz was in extraordinary pressure circumstances, Parker's most impressive victory over the last year was his warmup to that title-winning effort, when he destroyed the giant Alexander Dimitrenko inside three rounds.
Parker was merciless that night as he battered Dimitrenko to the canvas with relentless body shots.
Fury has much better footwork than Dimitrenko but if Parker can catch him, expect him to look to chop him down in similar fashion.
Parker has no fears about giving away height and reach, revelling in close contact.
The adjustment he will need to make in this fight is he won't, as he prefers, have someone coming at him and presenting a target. Fury is a clever defensive fighter and Parker will have to be the one going on the attack, looking to hunt the 23-year-old down.
A Fury trademark is the ability to clinch and tie up opponents and Parker will need to use his superior bulk and muscle to grind away in those situations.
Fury can also be elusive with his upper body - he has elastic movement from the waist and is clever fighting off the ropes.
Barry says they have worked on new techniques to counter this "awkward" opponent.
"We will be showing him things he's never seen from Joe before," Barry said.
"He talks about this being the new Hughie Fury, I don't think they will have seen this Joseph Parker. We have been waiting for this opportunity and, I know I've said it before, but I haven't seen Joe look this good."
Parker has taken the confidence from his training into the public arena, constantly voicing his belief he can end this fight early. He seems to have added snap to his punching in training.
"Our confidence is really high ... you've never heard Joe say before, 'hey, I'm knocking this guy out'. But that's what he honestly believes," Barry said.
Parker has treasured his nine months as WBO champion and has matured accordingly. But he doesn't want to stop now. He sees this as really just the beginning.
His opening defence against Razvan Cojanu was nothing more than a formality though it was a disappointing performance and certainly one that didn't help his image in Britain.
This is his chance to hammer his credentials home to the UK market and stop the scepticism about his right to be in this elite mix of belt holders.
It's also a chance to set up a potential fortune down the line, so it's a career-defining fight in many ways.
Fury is a difficult fighter to get a handle on, given his inactivity and inferior opposition.
But he's been a fighter all his life, has huge motivation and has a very canny coach in father Peter Fury, the man who master-minded Tyson Fury's upset win over Wladimir Klitschko.
That performance wasn't pretty but it was effective and Hughie Fury will do whatever he can to try to get his cousin's belt back off Parker who picked it up by beating Ruiz when it was vacant.
It's an intriguing matchup, a real mix of styles that doesn't always make for an attractive fight.
That's why Parker needs to dictate terms and make it his fight – right from the opening bell.
- Stuff