Joseph Parker received four words of advice from Tyson Fury before Wilder fight

Joseph Parker tapped into one of boxing’s best encyclopaedias for advice on how to take down Deontay Wilder when he turned to pal Tyson Fury.

The Gypsy King is, of course, the only man to beat the Bronze Bomber and is renowned for his knowledge on the sport, in particular the history of the heavyweight division he rules in. He’s beaten the American twice in emphatic fashion and arguably deserved the decision in their first meeting way back in 2018 when it was judged a draw.

So Kiwi puncher Parker, 31, couldn’t have a better stablemate to get insight from as he works with one of Fury’s trainers and cousins in Andy Lee at the world champion’s Morecambe gym. But the advice was so short, Fury could have written it on a fag paper.

READ MORE: Tyson Fury sets plan to fly to Saudi Arabia early ahead of Oleksandr Usyk fight

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The Day of Reckoning is coming to DAZN. The live event from Saudi Arabia will see Anthony Joshua take on Otto Wallin while you can also see clashes between Deontay Wilder vs. Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois vs. Jarrell Miller and Dmitry Bivol vs. Lyndon Arthur on an unmissable night of boxing.

Get your first month of DAZN from just £0.01 when you buy the Pay Per View event for £19.99

“His advice was don’t get knocked out, it’s simple,” said the former WBO heavyweight champion. “With this plan that my trainer Andy [Lee] has and what we’ve been working on, with the likes of Tyson’s advice to not get hit with the right hand, it’s really simple; ‘Just don’t get caught’ and 'box his head off’.”

Sound advice really considering Wilder has knocked out 42 of the 43 people he’s beaten. The former WBC heavyweight king has been losing a few of those bouts when his equaliser of a right hand has got him out of trouble.

What's your prediction for Parker vs Wilder? Let us know in the comments section.

Even Fury has felt the force of it as he was floored twice in the first and third bouts with Wilder and looked in big trouble in both. But Parker insists it can’t be a concern.

“You can’t have fear, if you have fear then don’t take the fight,” said Parker, who lost the WBO title to Anthony Joshua in 2018. “You’re in the wrong sport. You have to go into fights with supreme confidence.

"Even if things aren’t going well, even if you have had a mixed camp, even if you feel sick or whatever, you still need to be confident you’re going to smash this guy. This is why boxers are a different breed.”

Parker is here in Saudi Arabia as seemingly a warm-up act on quite the stage. As Wilder shares a card with long-time rival Joshua, the pair are pencilled in for a March 9 bout if both come out victorious this weekend.

“I don’t care what the plans are behind the scenes, if that goes ahead good on them,” said Parker. “I’m just focussed on my job and that is to take care of Wilder on fight night.”

Parker is taking a huge risk in facing Wilder but is obviously being very handsomely rewarded thanks to the riches on offer here in the Middle Eastern state.

But the one downside is that he will miss Christmas with his pregnant partner Laine Tavita and their four girls, who are back home in New Zealand.

“My wife is the best, I’ve been with her for the longest time and she sees me as an example to our kids that I’ve providing for our family, chasing my dreams,” added Parker.

“So I said to her ‘I’m sorry this fight is the 23rd’ but she said ‘if you miss Christmas, you miss Christmas, but come spend time with us after’. If it wasn’t for her support, I couldn’t do what I’m doing, travelling and fighting around the world.

"The kids are still very young but hopefully one day they’ll understand what we did for them. I will probably arrive on Boxing Day. The kids will be there waiting for me.”

Parker will hope to have returned with the biggest win of his career to add to the festive celebrations.

‘Day of Reckoning’, on Saturday, as part of Riyadh Season will be available live on DAZN and TNT Sports Box Office. Visit www.dayofreckoning.co.uk .

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