Joseph Parker hasn't won with a knockout since stopping Alexander Dimitrenko in October 2016. Photo / Getty Images
Joseph Parker has gone four fights and nearly two years without a knockout, and that has to change, starting with his next bout against Dillian Whyte.
Parker has promised to deliver a beating when they meet in the ring in London in two weeks and the
Kiwi heavyweight's statement of intent will probably be music to Whyte's ears. That's because the Englishman will know his only chance of a win is if Parker takes risks and goes on the offensive.
To that end, Parker, who leaves his Las Vegas base on Tuesday for London and the fight at the O2 Arena on July 29, has been preparing for a war. He has been swapping sparring partners every two rounds and sparring 10-rounders on consecutive days for the past few weeks.
The 26-year-old went 12 rounds in his first professional loss to Anthony Joshua in Cardiff in April. Before that, he beat Andy Ruiz jnr, Razvan Cojanu and Hughie Fury all by decision (Ruiz jnr and Fury by majority decision at that), so he is overdue a knockout.
Asked by the Herald on Sunday what his plan was, Parker went straight to the point: "More punches. And keeping busy. But doing it how we want to do it."
Asked how sparring was going against the likes of Eric Molina, a former opponent of Joshua's, Parker replied: "I need all the energy I can get because we sort of miss the feeling of bashing people up. We've got to be smart with our boxing but we've got to do a lot of damage — that's what we feel is going to happen.
"Kev and I have both found that it [an intensive, short camp] works really well. The whole structure of this camp ... we both find the body is adapting to it well. Getting all these rounds in is fantastic."
I really want to hurt someone and he's the one who's put up his hand to take the beating.
Parker's last knockout was against Alexander Dimitrenko in Auckland in October, 2016, when he put his Russian-born opponent down in the first round, twice in the second and finally in the third. There wasn't much coming back at him — a key point — but Parker's controlled aggression and determination to dominate was obvious from the first bell.
When asked whether he needed to hurt Whyte after failing to do so against Joshua and his other recent opponents, Parker said: "Yeah. I haven't really shown that in the last few fights. I really want to hurt someone and he's the one who's put up his hand to take the beating."
Trainer Kevin Barry added: "This is not going to be a tactical boxing match, this is going to be two guys throwing punches and we know Dillian Whyte is a very aggressive, come-forward guy — he doesn't know any other way. He doesn't mind taking two [punches] to give three."
Barry added Parker will need to throw bombs: "He's going to have to let that right hand go a lot in this fight."
In the background to the build-up of this make-or-break fight for both men is the fact that Parker's second daughter, Shiloh Jasmine, has been born while he has been in Las Vegas. He also missed the birth of Elizabeth.
It has added to Parker's mature approach to this camp and a steely determination to do the job properly in his first fight since he lost his WBO world heavyweight title to Joshua.
"I've got to take care of business and hopefully fly back to see her after the victory," he said.
Barry added: "That's obviously a really big thing. He's so pumped and looking forward to seeing little Shiloh. He talks about her all the time and I'm seeing all the new photos he gets."
Barry acknowledged it was difficult for Parker being away from his family, but added: "Imagine if he was someone trying to make a name for himself, someone grafting away fighting 10-rounders here in America and on top of that having to leave your family behind. That is really tough. What Joe is doing is setting up himself and his family for life. That's why he's making these sacrifices."