Heavyweights back hot Kiwi prospect
Rising Kiwi star Joseph Parker has the backing of some heavyweight figures. Steve Kilgallon reports.
PROPERTY TYCOON Sir Bob Jones and Supreme Court judge Bill Wilson will bankroll and manage the career of Kiwi boxing’s brightest prospect, Joseph Parker, with the aim of winning an Olympic gold medal then chasing a world heavyweight title.
After a scramble of suitors to back Parker, Jones has put him ‘‘on the payroll’’ and will fund a series of overseas trips this year to bolster the super-heavyweight’s chances of London 2012 qualification. Fight for Life promoters David Higgins and Dean Lonergan will also be involved.
It’s a huge boost to the career prospects of the 19-year-old Commonwealth Games boxer, but the deal appears to exclude Parker’s long-time trainer Grant Arkell, who discovered, trained and funded the young boxer until this year, with Arkell saying he ‘‘hadn’t a clue’’
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‘‘We’ve got a bit of a game plan at this stage, but events can change,’’ said Jones, who once managed Monty Betham Sr in the 1970s. ‘‘But the great thing is his youth, he has so much time. Anyone under 30 is considered a bit young and immature in heavyweight boxing nowadays. The boys [ Higgins and Lonergan] have a view that there is a limit to how far he can be taken in New Zealand, but I am not sure about that.’’
Asked about Wilson’s role, Jones said: ‘‘It’s a hobby, it will be fun to be involved; he won’t be in the corner wearing white but it all adds to the fun of it.’’
Jones plans to take Parker professional after the Olympics, or earlier if he fails to qualify at an event in Azerbaijan in December.
The millionaire businessman DAVID TUA’S fight with Monte Barrett is still definitely on and Tua is just waiting on his promoter Cedric Kushner to green-light the fight.
The Star-Times has learned that Tua v Barrett II is still happening, and both boxers have signed on for the bout – but the hold-up is now with Kushner, who has been hospitalised in New York after major surgery and slow with the paperwork.
That means the fight has pushed out a month, frustrating Tua fans, who have rarely seen him in the ring since his devastating stoppage of Shane Cameron in 2009. Tua v Barrett was originally set for July 9 at Vector Arena, but now, it seems, it’s more likely to happen in August. reached agreement with Parker and his family at a meeting in Wellington on Monday, but says there won’t be a formal contract signed.
It’s understood Parker’s uncle, Moses Fruean, had also been negotiating with a management group in Sydney and other poten- tial Wellington choosing Jones.
Parker will now have a busy schedule, including departing on a trip to an invitational tournament in China last Thursday, fighting in Malaysia and Azerbaijan, and is likely to feature on the Fight for Life bill. He has just returned from the Arafura ( Pacific) Games in Darwin with a gold, to accompany his Commonwealth Championships silver, Youth Olympics silver and world juniors bronze.
Arkell says Parker still trains with him, but has also worked with other trainers recently and said: ‘‘I am a bit disappointed I wasn’t kept in the picture but I am still here to help him.
‘‘I am not bitter, I just would’ve liked to know what was going on.’’
Jones said watching Parker’s televised Commonwealth Games bouts had convinced him he was ‘‘ special’’ but he considered he had better prospects as a professional than an amateur.
Meanwhile, Arkell has been appointed president of the Auckland Boxing Association, the heart of Kiwi boxing, after the incumbent, Tui Gallagher, stood down.
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