Boxing: Joseph Parker opens up on health scare; sets sights on Derek Chisora rematch later this year

Joseph Parker last fought in May, where he claimed a split decision win over Derek Chisora. Photo / Photosport

Joseph Parker has confirmed he was not among those who contracted Covid-19 in camp with Tyson Fury, although he did fall ill around the same time.

Parker had been in camp with Fury ahead of Fury's WBC world heavyweight title defence against American Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on July 25. However, the fight was postponed earlier this month when members of Fury's team contracted Covid-19, with a new date set in October.

Speaking to the Herald, Parker said he did not test positive for the virus.

"I felt pretty sick," Parker said. "I had two tests and they came back negative, but with some of the symptoms I had, it felt like I did have Covid.

"It was probably the sickest I've been for a while, but the tests came back negative so I don't know. I can't say I did have Covid, because it wasn't positive."

Finishing the camp and supporting Fury in his bout was the latest of Parker's plans to be derailed by the pandemic, with hopes of finding a midyear bout scuppered by the backlog of fights needed to be held.

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Parker last fought in May, where he claimed a split decision win over Derek Chisora in a tight contest. The win was his fifth straight, and his first outing under new coach and former middleweight world champion Andy Lee.

Following that fight, both Parker and Lee immediately said they would be open to a rematch given how close it was on the scorecards, and Parker said it was looking likely that the rematch would take place before the year's end.

"We're looking at fighting sometime in November," Parker said.

"There were a few options on the table, but I find it's a little hard to lock in fights at the moment. There's guys like Dillian Whyte who I wanted to fight, but I feel like he's busy and doing something else. There's Usyk and Joshua fighting each other, Tyson Fury's fighting Wilder – there are fights out there to be made, but it's a little bit difficult to make so the only fight at the moment that is looking likely would be Chisora.

"I'm down to take any fight there is," he added. "I'm down to fight any fighter that's keen to fight, it just has to make sense in terms of climbing the ladder and getting closer to fighting for a world title."

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The former WBO world heavyweight champion said the rematch against Chisora was the ideal situation to see just how much he has improved under the tutelage of Lee and working alongside Fury – who said prior to their initial meeting that Parker would have to question his place in the sport if he couldn't beat Chisora.

"It was a close fight," Parker reflected. "It was very good to get the win, but I feel like there's a lot of learning I can do on my side. I feel like on Derek's side, there's not so much learning that he can do. I feel like there's one way that he fights and there's one way that he approaches a fight – and that's applying pressure and throwing big bombs.

"I think if I continue to work with Andy and I continue to learn, continue to surround myself with guys like Tyson Fury and the team that Andy and I have and Tyson has, I feel like I can improve and get better.

"The big tell will be in a rematch with Derek Chisora to see if there's any improvements or if I need to stop boxing and do something else."