Boxing: Parker team plan bounce back for beaten champ

Joseph Parker in a clinch. Photo / Photosport

Joseph Parker is heading back to training, and his team is heading back to the war room, after Parker's defeat to Anthony Joshua.

Parker and trainer Kevin Barry were talking big on arrival at Auckland Airport, with Parker saying: "I've still got a lot to give the heavyweight division and the boxing world."

It wouldn't be boxing without hyperbole and the Parker camp has been as willing as any to indulge in verbal jabs.

Trainer Kevin Barry claimed "the scores were wickedly wrong" as Joshua claimed a unanimous points victory in Cardiff over the weekend.

Parker himself, when asked about the support he had received, said: "Even though we lost, we felt like we won."

They most certainly did lose and the scorecards were not wickedly wrong.

However, Barry was right to point out that the BBC had scored the fight at even after six rounds, because many pundits had a similar viewpoint at that stage.

From there, Joshua took over with his jab, and he cruised to victory with Parker failing to mount any attack.

But under friendly questioning fire from the waiting media, Parker and his team produced an up tempo public strategy.

"To say I'm proud of this young man is a total understatement," said Barry.

"He got out there on the world's biggest stage under huge physical emotional and mental pressure and came through with total class.

"He was booed by the crowd of 80,000 fans in the stadium and cheered out of the venue. He has millions of more fans around the world on that performance.

"He is still the youngest — at the age of 26 — out of all the top guys in any of the sanctioning bodies' top 10s. We've also got a lot of support from the sanctioning bodies, who want to give us all the assistance to come back.

"I'm going to sit down with [manager] David Higgins and Joe over the next week for a debriefing, and put a plan in place straight away to get Joseph back to where he should be at the top of the division. This young man will learn a lot from this fight, he will come back a much bigger fighter for it."

Parker didn't want to lose the excellent conditioning he achieved for the bout, even if his pre-fight fitness was lost on British TV host Graham Norton, who labelled him the "king of pies".

Parker had a reply: "I always wanted to have a pie after a fight, but I now I'm in good shape I don't want to eat those any more."

When asked if he was prepared to fight on a Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wilder undercard, Parker said: "Whatever our team decides and makes sense.

"We will discuss it as a team.

"Once we plan something that will stick, we will go from there. I'm still young, eager to be champion of the world, be involved in major fights.

"I haven't seen my daughter for a while, I want to see my partner, do some fishing.

"I promised I'd take Kevin on a boat and show him how to catch snapper, I might go diving for kina ... do something to take my mind off boxing but keep training.

"The support we've been given is amazing. It's a humbling experience, getting this support form Samoa and New Zealand, from around the world. We want to plan some fights and get into it straight away."

Parker is also planning a trip to Samoa and is sure to receive a rapturous greeting there.