Joseph Parker: ‘This will mean something different. I’m doing it for myself now’

New Zealand fighter has appreciated spending time with his family as he prepares to challenge Daniel Dubois for the IBF world heavyweight title. There’s nothing quite like watching Joe Parker lip-syncing to Take That to lift the mood in the back of an Uber on a drizzly morning in Dublin. The dangerous threat Parker faces against another big-hitting monster of the ring in Daniel Dubois, in Riyadh on Saturday night, fades with the laughter.

Even the depressing reality that boxing will continue to ignore human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, as Parker’s intriguing bout with Dubois headlines an outstanding bill bankrolled by the country’s General Entertainment Authority, can’t erode the wit and charm of the New Zealand heavyweight channelling his inner Gary Barlow. It’s a long drive from the heart of Dublin to the Ballybrack Boxing Club, where Parker has prepared for Dubois, and so I watch the video the fighter made last April. In December 2023 Parker had outclassed Deontay Wilder, a knockout merchant expected to crush him, and he was looking for a new opponent. Settling on Dillian Whyte, against whom he had lost a slugfest in 2018, Parker created an amusing parody of the usual abusive call-out.

Rather than being belligerent or crude, Parker pretended to croon and dance his way into Whyte’s heart by serenading him to the plaintive strains of Take That’s Back for Good. Featuring framed photographs of Whyte, and lipstick-stained mugs, Parker and his crew of South Auckland homeboys shuffled and sang their seemingly love-struck lament as a way of trying to set up a rematch. Those few minutes captured the essence of Parker.

Hearing about this diversion on my way to see him, a beaming Parker exclaims happily soon after I step into the gym. “That’s my favourite,” he says of the Whyte spoof which belongs to an entertaining collection of videos Parker began making during Covid lockdowns with his wife, Laine, and their children in 2020. Laine was initially dubious but the videos became an internet sensation and she joined him in making them – including her as Olivia Newton-John to his John Travolta in their version of Grease.

Last month Laine and their five kids surprised Parker by arriving in Dublin – as a way of bringing the family back together amid the grind of fight camp. “It’s been very beneficial,” Parker says of their reunion, “because I worry when I’m in camp. I always think: ‘What’s happening back home? How are they? They’re missing out on time seeing their dad. Is my wife OK looking after five kids?’.

“The toughest part about boxing is saying goodbye to your family and being away in camp. They’re now staying in a separate house but it’s six minutes away and I get to see them for two hours every evening. It’s a great boost.”. Parker is the most amiable man in boxing but his good mood, as the days tick down to his fight against the formidable Dubois, is not just because his family have been around him. It seems rooted in his sense that he has a serious chance of upsetting Dubois and replacing him as the IBF heavyweight champion. His team is led by Andy Lee, the astute and inspirational Irish trainer, and also includes George Lockhart, the American nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach.

Lee has transformed Parker after the heavyweight, who was ill with a virus, lost against Joe Joyce on an 11th‑round stoppage in 2022. Parker has since been on a five‑fight winning run, with his most recent two victories against Wilder and the Chinese giant Zhilei Zhang catapulting him towards the heavyweight summit. After an hour in the ring, the steam rising from him on a freezing morning, Parker sits down with me for an hour. Conviction pours from him as he says: “I feel a real belief going into this fight – not just because of those two wins but because George and I have been quietly working away since April, and Andy and I have done such great work the last three months.”.

Dubois is also on a roll. He has shown grit and explosive power when stopping his past three opponents – Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua. “Even though Daniel’s in good form I don’t see the threat,” Parker says coolly. “I know he’s a beast but I’m extremely confident because of the work I’ve done. I’m more focused on the process. I enjoy going to the gym, training, eating honey, resting. If I do everything right, and do exactly what Andy tells me, the result will come.”.

Parker is heartened by speculation that Dubois is overlooking him and focusing on a possible heavyweight title unification fight against Oleksandr Usyk, who remains the real world champion and is in possession of the three other belts: “Mmm, it’s good. He might be in two minds. His focus might be split on that fight and our fight. He deserves the praise he’s got recently but that can take him away from what’s actually important and what he needs to work on.”.