Tyson Fury and Joseph Parker’s bromance has flourished in recent years, with the pair helping each other in camp and being loud voices of support when fight nights come. There is, however, one thing in boxing that they avoid.
Last year, Joseph Parker ended an eight-year relationship with trainer Kevin Barry to hand head corner duties to Andy Lee.
The former WBO Middleweight Champion is readying Parker to face off with Joe Joyce on September 24 – the winner to be crowned WBO Interim Heavyweight Champion.
Whilst not Fury’s head trainer, a responsibility that falls to SugarHill Steward, Lee is a big part of his team. He also happens to be his second cousin.
This means that the two fighters train together. Having two high-class heavyweights in the same camp must be ideal for sparring, right? Wrong, according to Lee. He told Queensbury Promotion’s YouTube channel why.
“No, I don’t let them spar. It’s two alpha males in that type of environment, you know it won’t end well.
Someone landing a good punch, the other one trying – it’s not going to end well, so keep them apart.”
The pair have been filmed in the ring together boxing, so it’s to be assumed those are softer sessions or drills to build technique. Whatever they are, Lee sounds strong in his stance. After all, one’s a former heavyweight champion looking to reach those heights again and the other is currently reigning.
Fury said back in April that, should Dillian Whyte pull out of their scheduled scrap, Joseph Parker was the replacement. Of course, he wasn’t needed as Whyte showed and Fury won by stoppage in the sixth.
Despite not sparring now, if the stars align, Parker beats Joyce, and Fury decides to keep on fighting, it wouldn’t take a whole lot of circumstances for the pair to potentially be called to face off for real.
It would be a sight to see the two friends in the ring together, especially if the spark that Lee refers to caught fire.