The blockbuster fight between Joseph Parker and Junior Fa will go ahead on the new date of February 27, with both fighters promising to be in top shape.
Call it a reset; call it a case of once more, with feeling.
Call it want you want but when Junior Fa and Joseph Parker gathered together on the podium to dance around their respective health issues and promote their rescheduled fight, much of the good cheer and bonhomie ofprevious encounters had dissipated.
Parker, whose default setting is smiling and hospitable, seemed put out by being there. His mood would not have been lightened by suggestions he has not been the same fighter since his "timid" loss to Anthony Joshua, a theme that was refashioned again and again without a hint of subtlety during staged questioning.
The Fa camp fed into it, whether by accident or design, promoting the idea that Parker is not so much the finished product as a diminished product.
Fa has not been able to do any physical loading while he recuperates from surgery for a health issue that remains, at this stage, confidential. Instead he has been devouring fight film, more specifically Parker film.
He's seen him lose his unification bout to Joshua, he's seem him lose (albeit unluckily) to Dillian Whyte in his follow up. He's seen him beat Alexander Flores, Alex Leapai and Shawndell Winters since, taking his record to 27-2.
It appears he has not been that impressed.
"I felt he was a bit timid, a bit gun shy, in that [Joshua] fight," Fa said.
"I've seen the few fights he's had since those losses and there is a bit of a change in terms of aggression there. He couldn't put those guys away straight away so I think it speaks to the power he possesses."
Junior Fa and Joseph Parker face off at a press conference ahead of the re-scheduled fight for February 27. Photo / Photosport
This borders on a low blow. None of those fights went the distance and none were close. He would have liked to have finished Leapai faster (10th round TKO), but the guy's head was made of cement and he's never been counted out to 10 in a professional career that includes a title fight against Wladimir Klitschko.
Sure, Parker is not going to be mistaken for Joe Louis but then again, Fa is not…
"Anthony Joshua," trainer Eugene Bareman reminded us. "We aren't all these people. We have to figure out what our strengths are and what to take from those fights that we think Junior can take advantage of.
"It's not as simple as saying Joshua did this well against Joseph – everything has to be related back to Junior."
The event started with a bit of sales puff: more than 6000 tickets have been snapped up, more than 100 corporate tables sold, "very impressive" pay-per-view numbers. Even so, it felt like the fight needs an angle beyond the cute South Auckland, Samoa v Tonga demographic angle.
So the spin of the fight-theme wheel ended on this: On-the-Up v Washed-Up.
It feels a little harsh, a little manufactured, but Parker, his face devoid of emotion, had a ready answer.
"Everyone has an opinion and everyone can say what they want to say. As long as what drives and motivates me to keep boxing [continues], then I'm okay."
