06-21-2022, 06:08 PM
He never fancied it': Joe Joyce's promoter blasts Joseph Parker for swerving fight
British promoter Frank Warren is furious with Joseph Parker for backing out of a fight with Joe Joyce.
Joe Joyce’s promoter has blasted Joseph Parker, accusing the Kiwi heavyweight of backing out of a deal to fight the unbeaten Brit at the last-minute to sign with a rival network.
Parker (30-2, 21 KOs) and Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs) were originally set to meet on July 2 at London’s Wembley Arena in a bout that would serve as an eliminator for the WBO world title held by Oleksandr Usyk.
But despite being prematurely announced by Frank Warren during the broadcast of Tyson Fury’s successful world title defence against Dillian Whyte in April, no contract had been signed by Parker's team, who continued to explore their options after parting ways with Matchroom.
While negotiations went on between the two camps, the hopes of resurrecting the fight were all but ended this month when Parker agreed a long-term deal with promotional upstarts BOXXER, who have an exclusive contract with Sky Sports in the UK.
Warren’s Queensberry Promotions are signed up to the rival network BT Sport and seldom work with Sky, effectively ending the chances of an eagerly anticipated showdown between the two highly-ranked heavyweights.
Speaking to British radio outlet talkSPORT on Sunday (Monday NZT), Hall of Fame Promoter Warren left no doubt over whom he blamed for the fight falling through, saying Parker “never fancied it”.
Kiwi duo Joseph Parker and David Nyika are put through their paces at Tyson Fury's Morecambe gym.
“As you know, at Tyson’s last fight, him [Parker] and Joe [Joyce] got together and we announced that it was to be done,” Warren explained.
“We agreed terms, I shook hands with Joe [Parker] in front of Tyson and then we got the solicitors to work out the contracts, which took a long while but eventually they got them done.
“And then I heard the day before it was announced that he’d signed a deal with Sky, I heard about that.
“I just sent him a text, ‘Just been told the fight is off, so much for your handshake.’
“And then I got a text back saying, ‘Morning Frank, apologies it took a while to get the deal done, but was offered a better deal last minute.'”
Warren complained that Parker and his team should have at least shown him the courtesy of asking if he would be willing to match – or even better – the terms of the Sky deal.
He said the fact that they didn’t was proof that the New Zealander is running scared of Joyce.
“Even if he was offered a better deal, having agreed terms – if somebody said to me, ‘We’ve agreed I’m paying you £100,’ then I’d say, ‘Look, somebody’s offered me £110, do you wanna better it?’”, Warren told talkSPORT.
Joseph Parker hasn’t been seen in the ring since giving Dereck Chisora a beating back in December.
“At least do that. None of it at all. He never wanted that fight, he never fancied it and that’s the bottom line.
“But Joe Joyce is the guy who’s mandatory and ranked number one, not Joseph Parker.”
However, in his own interview with the UK station, Parker disputed Warren’s version of events and said he still wanted to face Joyce in the near future, urging the veteran promoter – who also looks after his good friend Tyson Fury – to put his “ego” aside.
“They [Sky and BOXXER] gave us an offer which we thought was a lot better than what we were getting from the other side,” Parker explained to talkSPORT.
“We still wanna get the fight with Joyce. I know they said because we signed with a different platform we can’t make it happen, but listen, that’s where egos come into play.
“If Frank Warren doesn’t have an ego I’m sure he can let Joe Joyce come onto the Sky platform and fight me.
“But listen, Frank can say whatever he wants to say, the contract kept changing and that’s why it took so long to lock in.
“We were so close to locking it in, but every time it came back there was something always different in it.
“He shook my hand on one deal, and all of a sudden went back and changed the deal.
“So listen, we can go back and forth, say this and say that, but why don’t we just make the fight happen?
Joseph Parker says he still wants to fight big Brit Joe Joyce, despite signing with a rival network.
“Just because he’s on BT Sport and I’m on Sky doesn’t mean we can’t make the fight happen, it’s all egos I think.”
Parker hasn’t fought since a one-sided beatdown of Dereck Chisora in their December rematch in Manchester in one of the best performances of his career.
Joyce was last in the ring in July last year, stopping Carlos Takam in the sixth round. He will return to the squared circle next month at Wembley Arena for a stay-busy fight against journeyman Christian Hammer (27-9, 17 KOs).
British promoter Frank Warren is furious with Joseph Parker for backing out of a fight with Joe Joyce.
Joe Joyce’s promoter has blasted Joseph Parker, accusing the Kiwi heavyweight of backing out of a deal to fight the unbeaten Brit at the last-minute to sign with a rival network.
Parker (30-2, 21 KOs) and Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs) were originally set to meet on July 2 at London’s Wembley Arena in a bout that would serve as an eliminator for the WBO world title held by Oleksandr Usyk.
But despite being prematurely announced by Frank Warren during the broadcast of Tyson Fury’s successful world title defence against Dillian Whyte in April, no contract had been signed by Parker's team, who continued to explore their options after parting ways with Matchroom.
While negotiations went on between the two camps, the hopes of resurrecting the fight were all but ended this month when Parker agreed a long-term deal with promotional upstarts BOXXER, who have an exclusive contract with Sky Sports in the UK.
Warren’s Queensberry Promotions are signed up to the rival network BT Sport and seldom work with Sky, effectively ending the chances of an eagerly anticipated showdown between the two highly-ranked heavyweights.
Speaking to British radio outlet talkSPORT on Sunday (Monday NZT), Hall of Fame Promoter Warren left no doubt over whom he blamed for the fight falling through, saying Parker “never fancied it”.
Kiwi duo Joseph Parker and David Nyika are put through their paces at Tyson Fury's Morecambe gym.
“As you know, at Tyson’s last fight, him [Parker] and Joe [Joyce] got together and we announced that it was to be done,” Warren explained.
“We agreed terms, I shook hands with Joe [Parker] in front of Tyson and then we got the solicitors to work out the contracts, which took a long while but eventually they got them done.
“And then I heard the day before it was announced that he’d signed a deal with Sky, I heard about that.
“I just sent him a text, ‘Just been told the fight is off, so much for your handshake.’
“And then I got a text back saying, ‘Morning Frank, apologies it took a while to get the deal done, but was offered a better deal last minute.'”
Warren complained that Parker and his team should have at least shown him the courtesy of asking if he would be willing to match – or even better – the terms of the Sky deal.
He said the fact that they didn’t was proof that the New Zealander is running scared of Joyce.
“Even if he was offered a better deal, having agreed terms – if somebody said to me, ‘We’ve agreed I’m paying you £100,’ then I’d say, ‘Look, somebody’s offered me £110, do you wanna better it?’”, Warren told talkSPORT.
Joseph Parker hasn’t been seen in the ring since giving Dereck Chisora a beating back in December.
“At least do that. None of it at all. He never wanted that fight, he never fancied it and that’s the bottom line.
“But Joe Joyce is the guy who’s mandatory and ranked number one, not Joseph Parker.”
However, in his own interview with the UK station, Parker disputed Warren’s version of events and said he still wanted to face Joyce in the near future, urging the veteran promoter – who also looks after his good friend Tyson Fury – to put his “ego” aside.
“They [Sky and BOXXER] gave us an offer which we thought was a lot better than what we were getting from the other side,” Parker explained to talkSPORT.
“We still wanna get the fight with Joyce. I know they said because we signed with a different platform we can’t make it happen, but listen, that’s where egos come into play.
“If Frank Warren doesn’t have an ego I’m sure he can let Joe Joyce come onto the Sky platform and fight me.
“But listen, Frank can say whatever he wants to say, the contract kept changing and that’s why it took so long to lock in.
“We were so close to locking it in, but every time it came back there was something always different in it.
“He shook my hand on one deal, and all of a sudden went back and changed the deal.
“So listen, we can go back and forth, say this and say that, but why don’t we just make the fight happen?
Joseph Parker says he still wants to fight big Brit Joe Joyce, despite signing with a rival network.
“Just because he’s on BT Sport and I’m on Sky doesn’t mean we can’t make the fight happen, it’s all egos I think.”
Parker hasn’t fought since a one-sided beatdown of Dereck Chisora in their December rematch in Manchester in one of the best performances of his career.
Joyce was last in the ring in July last year, stopping Carlos Takam in the sixth round. He will return to the squared circle next month at Wembley Arena for a stay-busy fight against journeyman Christian Hammer (27-9, 17 KOs).