In what is either a remarkably honest interview or a piece of deliberate misinformation or perhaps even wishful thinking, Joseph Parker’s trainer Andy Lee has illustrated in detail how he believes his man is going to beat Zhilei Zhang on Saturday morning NZT.
Parker, the Kiwi heavyweight who earned the best win of his career with a dominant performance against former WBC champion Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia in December, faces another huge challenge there in the form of Chinese southpaw Zhang on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua v Francis Ngannou main event.
And Irishman Lee, with whom Parker has struck a close relationship since they started working together three years ago, put his drawing skills to use with a graphic demonstration of how his man will do it.
It is, apparently, with a “Samoan killer left hook”, a punch, coincidentally or not, made famous by Kiwi-Samoan heavyweight David Tua.
In an interview with Boxing News in Riyadh, Lee says of Zhang: “As he throws the left hand, as you can see, he drops this one [right], leaving this side of his face open for the Samoan killer left hook.
“That’s what’s gonna happen in the fight… left hook for Joseph Parker - knockout.”
It would obviously be remarkable if the fight plays out like that – and many believe Parker will feint with the left hook and use an uppercut instead.
Regardless, Parker, who shocked the boxing world when bullying American Wilder, has the weapons in his armoury to react should an opportunity arise, as Lee stated.
The 32-year-old showed admirable focus against Wilder – which hasn’t always been a strength for him in the ring. He was also patient, punched as hard as he ever has, and followed Lee's strategy to the letter.
“For Joseph it’s about being present, about being deliberate and placing his punches,” Lee added of the improvements Parker can make.
“Outside of that he’s got all the ability - he can throw every punch in the book. He’s got great footwork, great hand speed, great combinations and great coordination. It’s more about the internal improvements Joe can make.”
Lee recognised the scale of the challenge, saying: “This is a huge risk, but there’s huge reward because you’re going to be a top contender if you win.”
But he added: “You can’t go from fighting Deontay Wilder to fighting some middling heavyweight.”
Interestingly, Lee detailed the sparring partners Parker has used in preparation for facing left-hander Zhang.
One of them, Croatian Agron Smakici, is the fighter who cut Tyson Fury’s face in a sparring session which delayed the Englishman’s much-hyped heavyweight unification bout with Oleksander Usyk.
The others were 19-year-old Englishman Moses Itauma, who is undefeated after 22 professional fights and is a future world champion according to Lee, American Zach Spiller and Croatian Petar Milas.
Lee said the Zhang fight would likely require Parker to be more instinctive than in the Wilder fight, when he had time to think. “This fight may be faster.”
Zhang has a rematch clause so Parker will have to fight him again if he is successful.
Asked who he would like Parker to fight after that, Lee said: “Like Lennox Lewis, I think it would be nice for Joe to beat the guys he lost to, that’s three British guys: AJ [Joshua], [Dillian] Whyte and [Joe] Joyce.”
Zhang's last two fights were dominant victories over Joyce, the Englishman who stopped Parker for the first time in his professional career.
Zhang's dominant win over Joyce in September last year was the last time he fought. Zhang has lost once as a professional.
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