Boxing: Parker passed fit to meet Williams

Kiwi heavyweight prospect Joseph Parker has been declared fit to meet Sherman Williams in West Auckland on Thursday.

Parker had experienced pain in his left shoulder recently but following a meeting with Dr John Mayhew today, the 22-year-old was given a cortisone shot and then trained this afternoon.

"He's got a minor impingement problem in his shoulder," Mayhew said. "He's had problems with this before. We've given him a corticosteroid injection with local anaesthetic and that should settle the problem down."

Parker (10-0) will put his WBO Oriental and PABA heavyweight titles on the line against the 42-year-old Williams (36-13-2) who is known for his durability in the ring.

Williams, of the Bahamas, has never been knocked out in his career with his only TKO loss coming via a burst eardrum that forced him to retire during a bout against American Robert Davis in 1999.

Parker's trainer Kevin Barry said his charge was confident after having the shot administered.

"It was more for Joseph's mental state of mind than anything else," Barry said. "I didn't want him to be worried about 'was it going to catch, was it going to cause him problems in his fight'. So that's why we got the cortisone shot."

Barry also liked what he saw from Parker during this afternoon's fitness test.

"We've just finished a boxing workout where he did three rounds of shadow boxing, three rounds of skipping and four rounds on the pads where he punched at full speed and full power and there was no pain at all, so I was pretty happy about that."

Given Parker has a snappy left jab, Barry needed the South Aucklander to feel comfortable with his shoulder, and his jab should be a decent weapon against Williams.
Parker is expected to headline December's Fight for Life in Hamilton and Barry said Parker's shoulder injury wouldn't keep him off that card.