Joseph Parker and his team did what they had to do in order to get Anthony Joshua’s attention leading up to contract negotiations. At first Team Parker was appalled by Matchroom’s initial offers but with a little verbal warfare they managed to get a better deal done.
Numerous digs at Joshua’s chin and even remarks about performance enhancing drugs got the job done and Parker received the deal he was looking for.
In a recent interview with Boxing Scene, the WBO World heavyweight champion admits it had to be done in order to secure the fight.
#March31 👊🏼💥 pic.twitter.com/XtVdGLNqqi
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) January 21, 2018
“The whole team did an excellent job, from my promoter David Higgins to our media director Craig Stanaway and coach Kevin (Barry.) It took a lot of planning and I know a lot of heat came our way because of how we went about things, but we got the fight locked in and that’s all that counts really,” told Parker.
The Kiwi reveals all his social media remarks and comments during interviews were calculated and thought well beforehand.
“I think it was important to make some moves leading into the fight, to try and secure the contract. Everything we said and did was calculated. There were a couple of times when negotiations stalled, so we would come out in the media and say some more things and then negotiations would start up again. However now we have the fight locked in, it will be more about focusing on the work we need to do rather than calling him out,” he said.
Despite the few bumps along the way, Parker says he is more than happy with the way negotiations proceeded.
“One thing we honestly feel is that Eddie Hearn genuinely wants it to be a fair fight and leave us with no excuses from our side. We agreed on many of the terms very quickly. It’s encouraging for sure. Now we have a date and structure put in place I can prepare with a very clear mind which hasn’t always been the case in the past,” told Parker.
Today’s presser 🥊 pic.twitter.com/uOlAFlyCDg
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) January 16, 2018
But the Kiwi did take one more verbal jab at Joshua.
“I don’t think he takes criticism very well and I think it’s a sign of weakness. It shows leading up to the press conference he was thinking about it and thinking about it, it must have been heavy on his mind,” told Parker.
Parker has the world watching as he tries to dethrone the current king of the heavyweight division. Parker did not impress with his last performance against Hughie Fury in September and many argue against him due to his lacklustre outing in Manchester.
“I do think many of his fans have written me off but there are also a substantial number of his fans that believe this will be a good fight and are excited to see it happening. I just want to put on a great show for them and for my fans as well. For me I use the doubters as motivation,” stated the Kiwi.
Parker will put his WBO belt on the line against Joshua’s trio of WBA, IBF & IBO titles on March 31st at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
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