JOSEPH PARKER needs to finish his Derek Chisora rivalry in red-hot fashion to make up for being trapped in freezing Morecambe.
The New Zealand ace swaps his tropical paradise home for the Lancashire bay for training camps alongside best mate Tyson Fury and their shared trainer Andy Lee.
But the brutal new covid travel restrictions mean he has no idea when he will be allowed back in his own country.
Thankfully the 29-year-old former WBO world champ is a hit in the local area and flew his wife and three daughters in just before the border rules changed.
But they have no idea when they will be able to fly back to all their other loved ones, so Parker wants a KO win to make up for the cold Christmas.
“I can’t get home to see my parents, siblings, friends and extended family,” he revealed. “But at least I have my wife and kids here now.
“We will have to spend at least Christmas and New Year here so I need to get this win.
“Morecambe is different to New Zealand, it’s a very quiet place, it’s good for camp and training because it’s just gym, apartment, eat and rest.
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“After the fight we’ve got a nice plan to go to Center Parcs, it’s a new experience for my kids because they’ve never seen snow before and as soon as they arrived, it started snowing in Morecambe, they were running outside, beanie hats on, noses going all red.
“We love it here because everyone’s so welcoming and friendly and we get good support here.”
Parker had plenty of support among boxing fans when he burst onto the scene as a violent knockout artist.
But his popularity has waned as more and more of his bouts – in victory and defeat – have gone the distance.
And the refreshingly honest ace admits he is sick of a few of his own dull showings and he must get back to exciting the public.
“To be honest, I don’t want to be a 12-round fighter,” he said. “I want to go in there and take care of business.
“I haven’t done that for a long time and that sucks. I’ve developed this defensive, boring style and I want to change it up.
“Maybe I just tried to play it safe and counter. I know the opponents weren’t the same in the beginning of my career but I was always on the front foot, making the fight happen, being more aggressive, throwing combinations. I want to go back to that.
“I don’t want to be a 12-round fighter, too defensive, waiting to counter, not being on the front foot. That’s boring.”
What’s never boring is Chisora’s attitude to fight-week build-up and he has left Parker flummoxed with his antics in Manchester.
On Wednesday night Del Boy hosted an impromptu game of musical chairs, instead of training for his media workout.
And at Thursday’s press conference he taped his mouth shut and refused to talk unless promoter Eddie Hearn paid him extra.
Parker insists he isn’t rattled – just baffled.
“I honestly don’t know what to say about that,” he said after the silence stunt.
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“I don’t know if he’s trying to rattle me or the press conference or just putting on a show. I have no idea what he’s trying to do. But he always gets people going and laughing.
“He knows how to work the crowd. If I did that, it’d be weird.
“If I went to the public workout and did musical chairs, that’d be weird. But when he does it, everyone accepts it, because it’s Derek – he’s a character, he’s great for boxing and I’m so happy to have this rematch with him.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
