11-20-2018, 04:17 PM
British heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte backs Joseph Parker to bounce back
MARC HINTON
New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker is getting through plenty of skills and drills at his Las Vegas training camp.
Joseph Parker's world heavyweight boxing legitimacy has received a ringing endorsement from the man who sent him tumbling down the rankings earlier this year.
Top British contender Dillian Whyte, who scored a controversial points victory over Parker in London in July to catapult himself into the world title conversation, is adamant Parker remains a hot prospect in the top echelon of the heavyweight ranks.
And, really, Whyte is as equipped as anyone to assess the chances of the New Zealander working his way back into the pointy end of the heavyweight business. He benefited immensely from a headbutt being ruled a knockdown early in their fight and then had to withstand being put on the canvas in the 12th round as Parker fought a valiant rearguard at the O2 Arena.
Whyte – dubbed 'The Undertaker' – has a December 22 matchup against fellow Brit Dereck Chisora that he hopes will be a stepping stone to a crack at Anthony Joshua's world titles in April next year, while Parker starts his campaign to regain the ground he lost with a second straight defeat when he takes on American-Mexican Alexander Flores in Christchurch on December 15.
"It was a hard performance, it was a gruelling performance," Whyte told podcast Boxing Social when looking back at the Parker fight in an interview from Manchester after Oleksandr Usyk's knockout of Tony Bellew.
"But when you're fighting guys like that you have to take them down, man, you have to trap them and beat them up, and take them away from their strength.
"In that fight I had a broken hand and a broken rib and a chest infection, but I'm not one for making excuses. I could have pulled out of the fight and let everyone down. But I didn't."
Then Whyte went in to bat big time for the 26-year-old Aucklander who is adamant he can make another surge in the heavyweight jostle at the top of his sport.
"Parker was good," Whyte told Boxing Social during a long interview. "People are writing Parker off but that's a big mistake. This guy he's fighting (Flores), an undefeated guy (he has lost once) ... he's going to get knocked out.
Dillian Whyte says he has plenty of respect for Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker after their July fight.
"Parker is a good fighter. He's not a chump, trust me. And he's tough, because [after] the punches I put him down with, he got up and shook them off like they was nothing and I'm very heavy-handed."
Whyte admitted that it was probably only experience that got him out of a jam in the final round of their July slugfest after Parker put him down for only the second time in his career. He took the standing eight count and managed to survive to the bell to secure a unanimous decision.
"The first time (he was knocked down, by Joshua) I tried to brawl up when I was hurt. This time my smarts kicked in. 'Don't do it, my friend, take the knee, get the count, recover your bearings, get back up and fight on'. And that's what I did.
"Life is all about progression and I'm progressing. If I keep making the same mistake over and over again, what's the point? Mistakes are all right, as long as you learn from them."
Since that contentious O2 battle the two fighters have headed in different directions. Whyte is being lined up for a lucrative shot at Joshua, probably in April, providing he gets past the veteran Chisora, while Parker has been left scrambling to find opponents to enable him to rebuild his reputation.
"Right now the only thing on my radar is December 22 (against Chisora back at the O2 ," he told Boxing Social. "After that we'll see. Joshua is a fight I definitely want. I'm improving, I'm climbing still, and I don't care. If the deal is not right, the terms are not right and the fight is not right, we won't have it. If everything is good and we're ready, then we'll have it."
Whyte also weighed in on Tyson Fury's much anticipated clash against American WBC champ Deontay Wilder on December 1 in Los Angeles.
"You have to give Tyson Fury credit. Unlike Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury is not a coward. He's been out three years, has come back and fought two pumpkins and has stepped up and is fighting supposedly pound for pound the No 1 heavyweight in the wold ... that's what Wilder calls himself anyway.
"Wilder is a coward, he don't want to fight no one. All credit to Fury. I hope he beats Wilder, then he'll come to England for big fights. I'm one of those big fights."
Whyte admitted the "smart money" was on Wilder but said Fury could not be discounted. "He's a bit of a weirdo, he can show up on the night and be terrible, or show up on the night and be good. I don't think even he knows what he's going to do."
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MARC HINTON
New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker is getting through plenty of skills and drills at his Las Vegas training camp.
Joseph Parker's world heavyweight boxing legitimacy has received a ringing endorsement from the man who sent him tumbling down the rankings earlier this year.
Top British contender Dillian Whyte, who scored a controversial points victory over Parker in London in July to catapult himself into the world title conversation, is adamant Parker remains a hot prospect in the top echelon of the heavyweight ranks.
And, really, Whyte is as equipped as anyone to assess the chances of the New Zealander working his way back into the pointy end of the heavyweight business. He benefited immensely from a headbutt being ruled a knockdown early in their fight and then had to withstand being put on the canvas in the 12th round as Parker fought a valiant rearguard at the O2 Arena.
Whyte – dubbed 'The Undertaker' – has a December 22 matchup against fellow Brit Dereck Chisora that he hopes will be a stepping stone to a crack at Anthony Joshua's world titles in April next year, while Parker starts his campaign to regain the ground he lost with a second straight defeat when he takes on American-Mexican Alexander Flores in Christchurch on December 15.
"It was a hard performance, it was a gruelling performance," Whyte told podcast Boxing Social when looking back at the Parker fight in an interview from Manchester after Oleksandr Usyk's knockout of Tony Bellew.
"But when you're fighting guys like that you have to take them down, man, you have to trap them and beat them up, and take them away from their strength.
"In that fight I had a broken hand and a broken rib and a chest infection, but I'm not one for making excuses. I could have pulled out of the fight and let everyone down. But I didn't."
Then Whyte went in to bat big time for the 26-year-old Aucklander who is adamant he can make another surge in the heavyweight jostle at the top of his sport.
"Parker was good," Whyte told Boxing Social during a long interview. "People are writing Parker off but that's a big mistake. This guy he's fighting (Flores), an undefeated guy (he has lost once) ... he's going to get knocked out.
Dillian Whyte says he has plenty of respect for Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker after their July fight.
"Parker is a good fighter. He's not a chump, trust me. And he's tough, because [after] the punches I put him down with, he got up and shook them off like they was nothing and I'm very heavy-handed."
Whyte admitted that it was probably only experience that got him out of a jam in the final round of their July slugfest after Parker put him down for only the second time in his career. He took the standing eight count and managed to survive to the bell to secure a unanimous decision.
"The first time (he was knocked down, by Joshua) I tried to brawl up when I was hurt. This time my smarts kicked in. 'Don't do it, my friend, take the knee, get the count, recover your bearings, get back up and fight on'. And that's what I did.
"Life is all about progression and I'm progressing. If I keep making the same mistake over and over again, what's the point? Mistakes are all right, as long as you learn from them."
Since that contentious O2 battle the two fighters have headed in different directions. Whyte is being lined up for a lucrative shot at Joshua, probably in April, providing he gets past the veteran Chisora, while Parker has been left scrambling to find opponents to enable him to rebuild his reputation.
"Right now the only thing on my radar is December 22 (against Chisora back at the O2 ," he told Boxing Social. "After that we'll see. Joshua is a fight I definitely want. I'm improving, I'm climbing still, and I don't care. If the deal is not right, the terms are not right and the fight is not right, we won't have it. If everything is good and we're ready, then we'll have it."
Whyte also weighed in on Tyson Fury's much anticipated clash against American WBC champ Deontay Wilder on December 1 in Los Angeles.
"You have to give Tyson Fury credit. Unlike Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury is not a coward. He's been out three years, has come back and fought two pumpkins and has stepped up and is fighting supposedly pound for pound the No 1 heavyweight in the wold ... that's what Wilder calls himself anyway.
"Wilder is a coward, he don't want to fight no one. All credit to Fury. I hope he beats Wilder, then he'll come to England for big fights. I'm one of those big fights."
Whyte admitted the "smart money" was on Wilder but said Fury could not be discounted. "He's a bit of a weirdo, he can show up on the night and be terrible, or show up on the night and be good. I don't think even he knows what he's going to do."
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