Joseph Parker is going into his blockbuster world heavyweight title fight with Anthony Joshua barely 12 weeks after undergoing elbow surgery.
That revelation came with assurances from Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry that the WBO champion will be punching harder and faster as a consequence of operations on both elbows.
Barry said: ‘We have not been hiding this but now it has come out I can tell Joshua that Joe will be a different animal from the one he saw taken the distance by Hughie Fury.’
Parker has reported being in pain for two years prior to having his left elbow repaired in November, then the right just before Christmas.
Barry says: ‘There were chips of bone floating in both joints, stress in the sockets and severe confiscation of the bones in those areas.
‘Joseph has been in such pain that we had to limit his training sessions, especially his punching.
‘Without question this had a big effect on his performances in 2017. By the time he came over here to fight Fury he couldn’t straighten his left arm. So he couldn’t lead with his jab as normal and had to rely on just throwing left hooks.
‘We have not been secretive. All the media who came to our sunshine training camp in Las Vegas will have seen the scars on both elbows.
‘So successful has the surgery been that Joe is happier than for a long time. He is pain-free and in much better condition.
‘Because he can train normally, he is leaner and with a glow on him, as people have noticed since he’s arrived in London.’
Barry has warned Joshua: ‘The Joseph Parker that you saw against Fury will not be the man you’ll meet in the ring in Cardiff on March 31.
‘He will be faster, able to throw more punches and hitting with the power of two years ago.
‘I would say that he is now punching as heavily as Joshua. The surgery has balanced out the power between them.’
Parker’s promoter, David Higgins, has lodged a protest on behalf of the New Zealand and Samoan journalists who Joshua declined to be interviewed by at his media day in Sheffield this Wednesday.
Higgins said: ‘These people have come a long way from Joseph’s two countries of origin and they deserve respect.
‘This gives an insight into the mental attitude of Team Joshua. Hopefully Joshua will give them some respect at the main media conference next Tuesday.’
Higgins also predicts that the bookmakers who are quoting his man as the heavy underdog in this unification fight for his WBO belt and Joshua’s WBA, IBF and IBO titles will be compounded by the reconstructed Kiwi.
Higgins says: ‘Everyone in the UK is buying into this notion AJ the marvel. That is based on his fight with Wladimir Klitschko and it seems to be forgotten that, despite the great champion he had been, Joshua was put down by a 41-year-old man.’
There has been some murmurs of criticism about Parker declining to shake hands with well-wishers in London but Higgins explains: ‘We’ve come from the warmth of Vegas to wintery weather here which as everybody knows has brought a lot of bugs with it.
‘Joe is happy to give a fist pump but we are also beginning to wear gloves to make sure he doesn’t pick up any cold or flu.’
Barry was at pains to explain why they delayed surgery for the best part of two years, saying: ‘We were ready to go with the doctor some time ago but the chance came to fight Carlos Takam in a final eliminator for one of Joshua’s titles which made Joseph a mandatory challenger.
‘Then came the chance to fight Andy Ruiz Jr for the WBO title which was too big of a chance to turn down.
‘Because we took that decision we have a first world heavyweight title fight between two undefeated champions on British soil.’
