Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (28-2, 21 KOs) and Derek Chisora (32-10, 23 KOs) held their final press conference as they spoke about Saturday’s night’s clash for the vacant WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight title at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Joseph Parker:
“I’m very prepared for this fight, I’ve had a great training camp with Andy in Ireland, then we moved over to Morecambe and got some great sparring under our belt, great pad work, bag, everything. I feel like with this fight, physically and mentally, I’m in a great place – probably the best I’ve been in a while.
“Two totally different styles, Junior Fa’s style was move and hug, punch every now and then. With Derek it’s no secret, he’s going to come forward and apply the pressure, throw punches everywhere. My hands are going to have to be up, down and all around.
“I think this is the perfect fight at the right time. We’re right there, get a good victory and there’s many other great fights out there to be made and to position yourself when the titles are free to fight for. This is a big card, not only the main event but the undercard fights are very exciting, I’m looking forward to Saturday.”
Andy Lee, trainer of Joseph Parker: “I can only see the fight playing out one way, with Derek coming forward and bringing war which he has done over numerous fights in recent years. I see Joseph boxing a smart fight, if he can put in the practice what we’ve been rehearsing in training the I can Joseph winning by late stoppage. We don’t want to leave anything to the judges, the only way to guarantee victory in this game is by getting a knockout, as much as they’re going for it, we’ll be going for it as well.
“We might surprise you, we surprised everybody with Tyson Fury against Wilder, we just might do the same, but you’ll have to wait and see.”
Derek Chisora:
“I love fighting, throwing yourself in the world title shot is okay. Dillian Whyte has been in the world title shot for the last five years, he hasn’t gone anywhere. I don’t put myself in those positions, I want to put myself in positions where I get to fight good fights. This is right, I’m fighting Joseph Parker and after that we’ll see what happens.
“I want to do what I do best, come forward, fight, chuck hell and do what I do every day. Roll the dice and rock and roll – go at it. I’ll come out of the gates and just go.
“The guy has a spider bite, we can’t deny it, we don’t know if it’s true or not, but he had it and now he’s here – we’re not going to cry over spilled milk. David did a good impression wearing the spiderman suit early on the morning, it was okay. The fight is here now so we’re not going to talk about history anymore, that’s why it’s called history.
“It’s going to be a great night; good things are happening. It’s a big card, but we don’t have that little edge on with the fans, it’s depressing but what can we say.
“The king is back, long live the king – I’m back. I’m buzzing, to all those fans at home, I’m going to bring smoke and I know my opponent is going to bring something which is going to be on his bike – but it’s going to be okay. He’s going to be cycling back to Australia but it’s all good. I know right now I’m still laughing and joking but when I come tomorrow, you’re going to know what time it is.”