04-15-2016, 04:59 PM
Joseph Parker and Kevin Barry highlight discipline as key to beating brawler Carlos Takam in IBF heavyweight eliminator
Joseph Parker has shown good defence as well as a potent attack as he's manouevred himself to be a fight away from a world title shot.
Joseph Parker is promising his most disciplined performance, believing that's what will be required to beat rugged French heavyweight Carlos Takam.
Parker and Takam fight in South Auckland in an IBF eliminator on May 21. The winner will get the mandatory rights to take on Britain's new champion Anthony Joshua.
Parker has been guilty of losing his cool at times and straying from fight plans during an unbeaten run of 18 fights that has taken him to the doorstep of international stardom.
The 24-year-old doesn't want that to blot the biggest opportunity of his blossoming career.
READ MORE:
* Larry Holmes backs Parker to be world champ
* Joshua title win sets up possible Parker 'mega fight'
* Anthony Joshua right stuns Charles Martin for title win
He knows he needs strategy to match his raw power, movement and astonishing hand speed that will be his biggest assets against the 35-year-old Takam.
Discipline is the key ingredient trainer Kevin Barry is hammering into Parker at their lengthy training camp in Las Vegas.
"If I use what Kevin instructs me to use and with the tools I possess I can make this a much easier fight for myself," Parker told Fightnews.com.
"I know we say that in every fight it's important to follow the game plan but never before in my career has there been a fight where it is more important to follow the plan to the absolute letter of what is laid out.
"We can make it a hard fight or we can make it a much easier fight for ourselves. It's better to be smart and use your natural advantages than get lured into the other guy's type of fight.
"The brawling type fight is the fight Takam has to come with. I've got some height on him, reach on him and I believe quicker hands as well, so he has to find a way to get inside. We've been watching a lot of tape on him of course and he might not be the best mover but he makes up for it with pressure and by walking you down."
Parker backs himself to keep his cool because the situation demands it.
"Honestly the fights where I had the best focus were the fights that presented the greatest challenge and dangers at the time: the Costa Junior fight, the Minto fight as well as when we fought Frans Botha, these were the fights where my discipline was at its best. And for this fight it will be at another level again."
Barry doesn't want to give any of the game plan away. But he also stresses the importance of discipline against an opponent who will look to stalk and engage, fighting close and wearing down Parker.
Barry is encouraged by what Parker has been showing during some intensive sparring where he has ordered the training partners to go hard at his fighter.
"This fight is all about discipline and precision punching," Barry told Fightnews.com.
"Takam has some very good strengths, he's awkward, he punches off angles, he's not your stereo typical fighter and this is one of the biggest assets to his game. Because of that it is going to be ultra important for Joseph to fight a smart fight. Yes he's a good boxer and he has fast hands but it's how he uses those hands. It's also about how he controls the tempo of the fight and the distance in the fight. It's going to be the ultimate test for Joseph's discipline."
Barry says Parker's development continues and it's time to bring out some new tricks.
"Joseph possesses a large arsenal of weapons that the fans haven't seen before, so we will have different strategies in play for this fight. We've got a great fight plan for Joseph which he has been executing in sparring and I like what I'm seeing. I believe he's taken another step up to a higher level from anything I've seen in the past."
With the heavyweight division opening up with each major fight, Barry believes the time is right for Parker to make his move.
"This fight brings real risk but it also brings real reward. This challenge against Takam is occurring at the right time in Joseph's development. The style of Takam, the aggression of Takam, the strength and physicality of Takam will bring out the best of Joseph Parker. I really believe that and I expect to see it.
"This fight is the pathway for Joseph to secure a heavyweight title challenge, so it's important we get his best work from him in training camp and see his best work on fight night and also that he takes his ring generalship to new heights which are going to be required not just in this fight, but in the fights to follow. This is a different level of opposition, it's a bigger challenge and its becoming very real. I think we're seeing that with Anthony Joshua right now as well, it's becoming real for him too.
"This is the fight where Joseph can put all of his skill and talent on display. Where everything he's learned in the last three years, his previous 18 fights, the sparring with the likes of Stiverne and Klitschko, this is where he gets to use all of that.
"This is where we get to find out if this young man is the heir apparent to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world, which I believe he is."
Joseph Parker has shown good defence as well as a potent attack as he's manouevred himself to be a fight away from a world title shot.
Joseph Parker is promising his most disciplined performance, believing that's what will be required to beat rugged French heavyweight Carlos Takam.
Parker and Takam fight in South Auckland in an IBF eliminator on May 21. The winner will get the mandatory rights to take on Britain's new champion Anthony Joshua.
Parker has been guilty of losing his cool at times and straying from fight plans during an unbeaten run of 18 fights that has taken him to the doorstep of international stardom.
The 24-year-old doesn't want that to blot the biggest opportunity of his blossoming career.
READ MORE:
* Larry Holmes backs Parker to be world champ
* Joshua title win sets up possible Parker 'mega fight'
* Anthony Joshua right stuns Charles Martin for title win
He knows he needs strategy to match his raw power, movement and astonishing hand speed that will be his biggest assets against the 35-year-old Takam.
Discipline is the key ingredient trainer Kevin Barry is hammering into Parker at their lengthy training camp in Las Vegas.
"If I use what Kevin instructs me to use and with the tools I possess I can make this a much easier fight for myself," Parker told Fightnews.com.
"I know we say that in every fight it's important to follow the game plan but never before in my career has there been a fight where it is more important to follow the plan to the absolute letter of what is laid out.
"We can make it a hard fight or we can make it a much easier fight for ourselves. It's better to be smart and use your natural advantages than get lured into the other guy's type of fight.
"The brawling type fight is the fight Takam has to come with. I've got some height on him, reach on him and I believe quicker hands as well, so he has to find a way to get inside. We've been watching a lot of tape on him of course and he might not be the best mover but he makes up for it with pressure and by walking you down."
Parker backs himself to keep his cool because the situation demands it.
"Honestly the fights where I had the best focus were the fights that presented the greatest challenge and dangers at the time: the Costa Junior fight, the Minto fight as well as when we fought Frans Botha, these were the fights where my discipline was at its best. And for this fight it will be at another level again."
Barry doesn't want to give any of the game plan away. But he also stresses the importance of discipline against an opponent who will look to stalk and engage, fighting close and wearing down Parker.
Barry is encouraged by what Parker has been showing during some intensive sparring where he has ordered the training partners to go hard at his fighter.
"This fight is all about discipline and precision punching," Barry told Fightnews.com.
"Takam has some very good strengths, he's awkward, he punches off angles, he's not your stereo typical fighter and this is one of the biggest assets to his game. Because of that it is going to be ultra important for Joseph to fight a smart fight. Yes he's a good boxer and he has fast hands but it's how he uses those hands. It's also about how he controls the tempo of the fight and the distance in the fight. It's going to be the ultimate test for Joseph's discipline."
Barry says Parker's development continues and it's time to bring out some new tricks.
"Joseph possesses a large arsenal of weapons that the fans haven't seen before, so we will have different strategies in play for this fight. We've got a great fight plan for Joseph which he has been executing in sparring and I like what I'm seeing. I believe he's taken another step up to a higher level from anything I've seen in the past."
With the heavyweight division opening up with each major fight, Barry believes the time is right for Parker to make his move.
"This fight brings real risk but it also brings real reward. This challenge against Takam is occurring at the right time in Joseph's development. The style of Takam, the aggression of Takam, the strength and physicality of Takam will bring out the best of Joseph Parker. I really believe that and I expect to see it.
"This fight is the pathway for Joseph to secure a heavyweight title challenge, so it's important we get his best work from him in training camp and see his best work on fight night and also that he takes his ring generalship to new heights which are going to be required not just in this fight, but in the fights to follow. This is a different level of opposition, it's a bigger challenge and its becoming very real. I think we're seeing that with Anthony Joshua right now as well, it's becoming real for him too.
"This is the fight where Joseph can put all of his skill and talent on display. Where everything he's learned in the last three years, his previous 18 fights, the sparring with the likes of Stiverne and Klitschko, this is where he gets to use all of that.
"This is where we get to find out if this young man is the heir apparent to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world, which I believe he is."