Tyson Fury recently offered his help to Joseph Parker as a sparring partner but the WBO World heavyweight champion has respectfully declined ‘The Gypsy King’s’ offer.
Parker and Anthony Joshua are set to collide on March 31st as the two will fight for heavyweight glory in a big unification bout in at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. On top of the sparring, there was also talk about Fury possibly walking Parker to the ring against the WBA, IBF & IBO champion.
@joeboxerparker I've got a show on the night your boxing in England but if you want I'll come spar you when your in uk training for the fight, it wil help both me & you, you won't find better sparing than me I promise you. Let me know pal?
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) January 18, 2018
Right now it’s looking like Fury won’t be a part of Parker’s entourage in Cardiff and the Kiwi also won’t be sparring against the former heavyweight world champion because Fury is not the right fit.
“Tyson Fury’s a great guy, but with all due respect to him, I don’t think it’s the right person to spar because he moves around well for a big guy and he doesn’t come forward, and he’s a lot taller,” Parker said in an interview with Radio Live.
Strong core. Strong foundation 🥊 #ParkerJoshuapic.twitter.com/XuaKmh5hnf
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) January 25, 2018
The WBO champ has set up his training camp in Las Vegas with trainer Kevin Barry. According to Parker, they have found the right mix of sparring partners.
“So I think Kev (trainer Kevin Barry) and our team have done some research and we found guys that we think that doesn’t have everything Joshua has, but each of them have bits that we can see or help us prepare for what he brings,” explained Parker.
He then went into detail about why Fury’s style is not suitable for his preparation against Joshua.
Joshua’s style mainly focuses on pressure and power. Parker wants his sparring partners to emulate this and come forward strong and he believes stylewise Fury is too different.
Start of a grueling but exciting training camp 💯 bring it on!! pic.twitter.com/ciA2Qaegfc
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) January 18, 2018
“We want guys to come forward and we can just smash them, and for them to throw everything at us – the kitchen sink – and just try and knock us out.
“But with Fury, as the fighter he is, he’s a smart fighter who doesn’t stand there, who doesn’t absorb a lot of punches and likes to move,” said Parker.
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