All of which begs the question, why?
"I've been following Joseph from the beginning," he said.
"I have watched most of his amateur fights as well, believe it or not, and watched all of his fights as a professional.
"I like his attitude towards the fight game. He's an all-round fighter, he's tough, strong,
fast. He punches hard and he doesn't really care who he fights, so he demands admiration."
Asked about being the most recent owner of Parker's WBO belt, Fury said: "It's not my belt, it's Joseph Parker's belt. I was happy he fought for the belt. He fought a great fight against a tough lad in Andy Ruiz. It was a close fight. I had him winning the
fight and he did well. He achieved his dreams."
Fury has called Haye and Joshua "pretenders" to his crown, but is also content Klitschko's belts are in the hands of others. He said he's back in training with a hope of fighting again, but appears overweight and without the burning desire to box competitively.
Asked about Parker's critics who say he didn't "beat the man" and instead wonavacant title, Fury said: "I'd say the opportunity didn't arise for him to beat the man who had the belt. I know if the opportunity had come, he would've taken it with both hands. The thing is, no one has beaten the man who beat the man apart from me.
"So all the champions of today, without disrespecting them all, they're only champions because of my achievement in Germany and if I didn't relieve Klitschko of all the belts in Dusseldorf, then he'd probably still have them today.
But it was a monopoly and it was about time somebody did it. It gives other people opportunities to make money and achieve their dreams ...so I'm happy thev belts are active again, and they can be kept busy in great fights with other up-and-coming young
fighters."
Fury also said Parker didn't deserve the criticism he received for not being able to knock out Razvan Cojanu, brought in at late notice in May after Hughie pulled out with a back injury, that he had cousins in New Zealand and would love to fight here at some stage, and that he wouldn't return to the ring unless he was mentally and physically 100per cent again.
"I'm just enjoying the moment, watching Hughie fight," the 28-year-old said. "I've had my
moment in the sun and hopefully I will get another chance further down the line.
"But to be honest, there's one fight for me at the moment, and that battle is against my own self, which goes further than boxing any opponent.
"My battle is getting motivated to train and want to fight and do all the right things, but I know on any given night, on my night, I'm capable of beating most people in the world at any given moment.
"Money ain't the motivation and to chuck it around and throw it in the sky and chuck it at some strippers, it ain't really my style.
"For the money I've earned already, I can invest it wisely, I'm not stupid and Ican live off it for the rest of my life but I can only do damage to my reputation by coming back unprepared and unfit and for money."
New Zealanders, he said, know about fighting and warriors, too.
"New Zealand is a fighting country of fighting men and a warrior background."
