New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker is days away from becoming a new dad. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker is days away from becoming a new dad. Photo / Photosport
Kiwi boxing sensation Joseph Parker is about to become a dad.
The Herald on Sunday can reveal the 24-year-old star is days away from having his first child as he stands on the brink of a world heavyweight title shot.
The mother of Parker's baby is Laine Tavita. It's understoodtheir romance dates back to high school.
Often referred to as "Gentleman Joe", Parker is training in Las Vegas for a crack at boxing's big time and will probably miss the birth, expected any day now, as he prepares to fight Andy Ruiz Jr for the WBO title - tipped to happen in Auckland on December 10.
Parker said through a spokesman that it was a private matter and he did not want to talk about it.
It can also be revealed fellow heavyweight boxer, rugby star and Olympian Sonny Bill Williams is about to welcome his second child.
The 31-year-old's manager, Khoder Nasser, declined comment yesterday.
But sources told the Herald on Sunday the baby was due in December.
Williams, who married former nightclub dancer Alana Raffie three years ago, welcomed first daughter Imaan in November 2014 but missed the birth because he was on All Blacks duty in Cardiff.
Team management allowed Williams to skip training so he could watch the birth over the internet.
Sport isn't likely to get in the way of family this time though, with Williams on a long injury layoff after suffering a partial rupture of his Achilles tendon in the opening match of New Zealand's Olympic rugby sevens campaign.
Sonny Bill Williams and wife Alana Williams AT Mt Eden. Photo / Twitter@SonnyBWilliams
