Joseph Parker boosted by family in Ireland
Joseph Parker’s decision to relocate his wife and kids to Ireland for his next fight has taken him to new heights, according to trainer Andy Lee.
WBO Interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) meets WBA Interim titlist Fabio Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, live on DAZN.
It’s a crucial clash, with the winner going on to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship against Oleksandr Usyk.
There’s so much at stake that the 33-year-old Kiwi has boldly made a big decision regarding his family to give him every chance of completing the perfect training camp.
The New Zealander usually spends gruelling months away from his wife and young children, training nearly 12,000 miles away from home, and was even forced to miss the births of all four of his daughters as he was in camp.
But this time, the father-of-six has relocated his family to the Emerald Island, living in a camp house while his wife, four daughters and two sons stay in a nearby hotel.
His trainer, Andy Lee, told Sun Sport: “I think it’s been very beneficial to him to have the kids here and his wife here. The lads know in the studio, a lot of downtime when you’re in camp and when it’s quiet, those are the hardest times because you’re lonely and you have a lot of time to think.
“But now he’s in this camp he’s just been able to pop up to the hotel, see his kids, see his wife even if it’s only for 10 minutes, an hour here or there.
“It just fills that gap and fills that void and for them, for the kids as well to know where their dad is. I think the youngest one is about six months, the oldest one is eight.
“He’s got six kids, so they’re all young and like that that goes missing for eight to 10 weeks. They don’t know where he is. So now they know where he’s going. They know where his gym is, dad’s gone boxing, but in their mind they can picture it.
“So I think hugely beneficial to him to have him here because, and I think it’s motivated him. It gives him that little boost.”