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Parker: "I Need To Take Care Of Business"
Joseph Parker says his "career is on the line" when he meets
British veteran Derek Chisora for a second time at the AO
Arena in Manchester this Saturday December 18, live
worldwide on DAZN (with the exception of New Zealand and
Samoa).
The New Zealand star (29-2, 21 KOs) overcame a first-round
knockdown to edge past former World Title challenger Chisora
last time out at the same venue back in May via a
hard-fought split decision in his first fight with former
WBO Middleweight king Andy Lee.
Ranked at No.2 in the world with the WBO, former World
Champion Parker heads into this weekend's huge rematch
knowing that a loss to Chisora would prove to be disastrous
in his pursuit of becoming a two-time Heavyweight ruler.
"The first fight wasn’t the longest camp together with Andy,
we were just getting to know each other and getting ready
for the fight," said Parker. "A longer camp is more
beneficial as I am understanding more what Andy is trying to
teach me. We’ve worked so hard every day and I think that
it’s really going to show on the night.
"Andy and I have been working on a lot of things in camp and
the goal is to go in there and look better, and win but win
well. I can say that I am going to be more dominant, more
aggressive, and that sort of stuff, but I just want to go
out there and fight and I will let my actions do the talking
for me.
"I want the best Derek Chisora. I got a hard pressure
fighter in the first fight with Derek and I think that he’ll
be looking to make little adjustments to improve, so I am
looking forward to what he’s going to bring. As long as I do
what I can do it’s not going to go the distance, but I know
he feels the same way. There’s no issues for me in the build
up with a great camp and injury free.
"I like Derek and respect him, but this is not the time to
be friends before the fight. I need to take care of business
because my career is on the line here. He’s achieved a lot
and I respect him, but that can wait until after the fight.
"I think the result was right. I did enough to win, it
wasn’t the most dominant or best performance, it was a close
fight but I believe I won it and it’s good to be able to run
it back and to show the improvements I’ve made with Andy.
It’s the first rematch of my career so I am excited for that
and I just want to go out and fight hard, beat him up and
put on a better performance and win in better fashion."
Parker vs. Chisora 2 tops a huge night of action in
Manchester, ‘Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver’ Jack Cullen
(20-2-1, 9 KOs) returns to the scene of his Fight of the
Year contender with Felix Cash back in 2019 as he clashes
with Kevin Lele Sadjo (16-0, 14 KOs) for the vacant EBU
European Super-Middleweight crown following his win over
Avni Yildirim in July, Manchester Super-Featherweight
contender Zelfa Barrett (26-1, 16 KOs) hopes to make it
three wins from three fights in 2021 as he meets Australia’s
Bruno ‘The Terminator’ Tarimo (26-2-2, 5 KOs) in an
Eliminator for the IBF World Title, undefeated New Malden
Super-Middleweight talent Lerrone Richards (15-0, 3 KOs)
looks to build on his impressive EBU European Title win
against Giovanni De Carolis in May when he takes on unbeaten
IBO 168lbs World Champion Carlos Gongora (20-0, 15 KOs),
Croatian Heavyweight knockout artist Alen 'The Savage' Babic
(9-0, 9 KOs) looks to make it ten knockouts from ten fights,
New Zealand Cruiserweight David Nyika (1-0, 1 KO) fights in
the UK for the first time against Anthony Carpin (5-6-2, 2
KOs), Derby Super-Lightweight prospect Sandy Ryan (2-0, 1
KO) is out to impress against Maria Soledad Caprialo
(7-13-4) after her vicious body shot knockout win over
Aleksandra Vujovic in Italy, unbeaten Cruiserweight Jordan
‘Troublesome’ Thompson (11-0, 9 KOs) meets Clement Oppenot
(5-1, 3 KOs) over six rounds, former Team GB standout Cyrus
Pattinson (2-0, 1 KO) takes on Evgenii Vazem (9-21, 4 KOs)
over six rounds at Welterweight and Anthony Crolla-trained
Lightweight Rhiannon Dixon (3-0) fights Paola Pamela
Benavidez (8-5-3) over six rounds.
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