Joseph Parker

By Bryce Wilson –Arena Manawatu, Saturday June 13th.

Undercard – Polish heavyweight Izu Ugonoh 12(10)-0 improved his unbeaten record with a rough and tumble unanimous 8 round decision against 6 foot 10 Julius Long. Ugonoh came out pumping the jab against the much taller heavier Long, hurting the veteran to body in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. A HUGE right hand floored Long in the 4th that he did well to recover from going into survival mode for the rest of the round. The action slowed a little in the 5th and 6th as both men had their moments. Ugonoh closed the fight strongly using an effective jab and hard body shots to cruise to a comfortable decision.

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By Allan Fox: Undefeated #8 WBO, #10 WBA heavyweight contender Joseph Parker (14-0, 12 KOs) stayed unbeaten on Saturday night with a two round knockout over the more experienced but terribly limited Yakup Saglam (34-4, 31 KO) at the Manawatu Arena in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

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by Bryce Wilson: Meeting up with Kevin Barry in his suite at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel and making small talk he ruefully remarks on the bumps and lumps that come from training not one but two very powerful heavyweight contenders. Barry now finds himself in the relatively unique situation of having both heavyweight contender Joseph Parker and recently adding Polish up-and-comer Izu Ugonoh living with his wife and family in Las Vegas.

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By Bryce Wilson: Undefeated heavyweight Joseph Parker is running 15 minutes late for our scheduled chat on Skype to discuss his recent training camp with Wladimir Klitschko and upcoming fight on June 13th with Yakup Saglam. An apologetic Joseph explains that he was so engrossed in reading Dale Carnegie’s famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, that he had lost track of time.

It turns out this isn’t the only cerebral tome that has taken his interest as he mentions an autobiography on billionaire investor Warren Buffet as well as Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad as other recent reads. Having seen Joseph brutalize opponents in the ring it is a strange dichotomy to discover his interest in self-improvement books but also encouraging to see an athlete who fully understands and embraces the importance of mental preparation.

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By Bryce Wilson: Undercard: Up and coming undefeated Polish heavyweight contender Izu Ugonoh completed a satisfactory second trip to New Zealand with a comprehensive knockout of Thomas Peato 1 minute 15 seconds into the second round. A vicious left hook to the body left Peato unable to continue as Ugonoh moves to 11-0 (9KO’s) with the win.

Despite placing a $1000 bet on himself at generous odds of 9-1 with the NZ TAB American challenger Jason Pettaway had looked nervous at the Wednesday lunchtime weigh-in, unused to the level of media coverage he has received in the lead up to this fight.

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