SIR BOB MISSES PROTEGE PARKER DEMOLISHING AUSSIE
DUE TO the unusually early scheduling of his protege’s fight, Sir Bob Jones missed Joseph Parker’s latest triumph, but New Zealand boxing’s next big thing merely confirmed that reputation, with a demolition of Australian Nathan McKay last night.
Jones has thrown his financial weight behind Parker, the 19-yearold South Aucklander with a swag of amateur medals, and the desire to win gold at next year’s Olympics. His reputation helped him earn a spot on last night’s David Tua undercard.
Sky had advertised the card being screened from 7pm, but you had to be sharp to catch Parker, and Jones – who prefers not to watch fights live when he wants to analyse them, having sat beside Norman Mailer for the ‘‘Thrilla in Manilla’’ and remembered little of it – missed his latest investment’s outpointing of the burly McKay.
Parker extracted standing-eight counts from McKay in both the opening two rounds, bloodying McKay’s nose in the second, although he again showed his tendency to run out of gas in the third, and was hampered when he caught his right thumb on McKay’s elbow. He was already a comfortable winner by then.
Parker laughed when he heard Jones hadn’t made it, joking that he hoped they only showed him the first round.
‘‘Everything is coming into place – with Bob helping me out, it has allowed me to train and focus instead of fund raise,’’ he told the Star-Times. ‘‘Everything is looking better. Now I just need more training, and greater focus.’’
Parker will go to the world amateur championships in Ajerbaijan next month, and had national amateur coach Phil Shatford in his corner last night to get used to his style. Before that, he flies to Wellington tonight to meet Jones, ahead of an amateur international match against the Chinese team next Saturday.
While Jones wasn’t in Manukau, his business colleagues and entrepreneurs, David Higgins and Dean Lonergan, were in the crowd, Higgins pronouncing them very pleased with Parker’s display.
‘‘He did everything that can be expected and delivered on his promise – he’s a great talent and he’s lived up to the hype,’’ said Higgins.
Parker was the definite highlight of a somewhat lopsided and strangelypaced undercard, although the crowd fired up for a fiery, entertaining four-round brawl between Joey Wilson (7-2) and Afa Tatupu (6-0), in which Tatupu, an emerging heavyweight from Ron Foley’s stable, tired after a promising start, and was eventually dropped and stopped by Wilson in the last.
There were also wins for former Contender fighter and one-time WBO regional belt holder Daniel McKinnon (now 19-5) over Kashif Mumtaz (8-25), and the always aggressive Steve Heremaia improved to 17-6 with a second-round KO of late replacement Brad Pole.
In a contest between two welldecorated former amateurs, Isaac Peach (now 7-1) outpointed Gunnar Jackson (7-2).