December 11th was the original date for the long awaited Joseph Parker versus Junior Fa (19-0) heavy showdown.
The fight ended up having to be delayed until February 27th when Fa had to undergo surgery for a medical issue. Fans in the United States and other countries can watch the action that will stream on DAZN from the Spark Arena in Auckland.
While they were originally frustrated with the delay, Team Parker eventually saw it as a blessing in disguise. Parker decided to also undergo surgery and according to his trainer Kevin Barry, is punching harder than ever.
With the United States ravaged by the coronavirus, they decided to hold their entire camp in New Zealand.
“This was the first time in 8 years that Joseph and I have performed a full training camp in New Zealand. All previous camps had been done in Las Vegas where we had well tested good systems in place. It took a couple weeks to settle in but all and all we have been able to replicate most of what we have in Las Vegas,” Barry told BoxingScene.com.
“With the postponement of the original December 12 date because of Junior Fa withdrawing because of a health issue, we ended up conducting back to back training camps.”
Barry said that the surgery was mostly of the clean up variety for Parker and when they went back to work after the surgery, he immediately noticed a difference in his fighter’s punching power.
“After a 2 week quarantine time in managed isolation after arriving into New Zealand, I was left with a 7 week training camp. Fa withdrew during our fifth week and Joe already had 45 rounds of sparring,” said Barry.
“With Fa’s surgery, Joe was also able to get some keyhole surgery on both elbows to clean out bone chips, calcium deposits and to repair his elbow socket. Joe spent most of December in rehab on the elbows. We started back with an 8 week camp on January 4. It’s been a good camp with 101 rounds of sparring. We have been managing the elbow recovery, with Joe feeling better each week.”
Besides punching power, Parker is also feeling a lot more comfortable when throwing his right hand and that could prove to be the difference on fight night.
“Joe, even with managing of the elbow recovery process, is definitely working with a lot less pain than before the surgery. His right hand in particular is landing a lot more and with more speed and power. It is important for us to let the right hand go a lot more in this fight with Junior Fa,” Barry stated
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