Joseph Parker has revealed he was out of shape when he headed into camp for the biggest fight of his life and has vowed not to make the same mistake in the future.
Speaking on the recently launched The Boxing Files podcast, Parker admitted to a few regrets from his 2018 heavyweight showdown with Anthony Joshua in front of 80,000 people in the UK.
At the time Parker held the WBO heavyweight belt while Joshua lay claim to the WBA, IBF, and IBO belts.
Parker became the first person to go the distance with Joshua in his professional career, however the English boxer won by unanimous points decision.
While Parker was more than happy with the training camp under Kevin Barry’s guidance in the lead up to the fight, it was how he turned up to that camp which is where he felt he let himself down.
“When I look at things outside of the training camp, and outside of the fight, I should have went into camp at a better weight. I was in New Zealand relaxed and having a good time,’’ Parker told The Boxing Files podcast.
‘I’d had elbow surgery, so I wasn’t taking training to seriously. I went into camp at 123kgs, and I needed to come down to 107kgs, so the body is going through this big stress.
“I should have gone into camp at a better weight and started off healthier and a lot more in shape. Where is I went into camp to lose weight and get into shape. I should have been using it as a way to work on technique and skills to get better.’’
Parker also paid respect to the way Joshua fought on that March 2018 night in Cardiff.
“He boxed better than I thought. When I watched his previous fights he came out and chased you down, and he liked to brawl and fight. Where in this fight he adapted and changed and he was able to box a bit better than I thought he was able to box.’’
The 28-year-old New Zealand heavyweight believes he will be much better equipped if he is to get another shot at Joshua in the future.
“Along the way I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’ve had failures, but I want to fight those guys I’ve lost to, I want to fight Anthony Joshua, I want to fight Dillian Whyte, and I believe if I do fight them again and I do everything right and actually go into camp at a better weight and use what I’ve learned from those first two fights I can do a lot better and I can beat them.’’
Click here for the full interview with Joseph Parker.