Joseph Parker has shrugged off calls to retire after two consecutive losses, saying he is “still hungry and motivated to be champion of the world again, to be unified champion.”
The heavyweight told 1 NEWS he respects former Duco chief executive Martin Snedden and his opinion that he should retire for the sake of his health.
“I respect Martin Snedden and I respect his opinion but what they have got to remember, it’s my career and I can chose when to retire.”
Hopefully everyone respects that and comes along for the journey because we’re not done yet.”
Parker was hopeful that fans in New Zealand and Samoa would remain behind him as he aims to rebound from the consecutive defeats to Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua.
“The support we’ve been getting from NZ and Samoa has been tremendous, it’s probably the best support I’ve ever seen in a long time,” he said.
“I hope and pray that they (the fans) still support us in what we’re trying to achieve but the only reason we’re doing this is because we’re trying to represent NZ and Samoa the best we can and make them proud and hopefully we can do that.”
Parker, who turns 27 in January, said he still planned to fight until he turns 30.
Reflecting on the loss to Whyte, Parker said the second round headbutt had caused him to black out for the first time in his career and he felt he was slow from then on.
“It’s the first time I blacked out in a fight, I threw a punch and all of a sudden I’m on the ground and I sort of blacked out for two or three seconds.”
Parker’s promoter David Higgins announced today that they had decided against appealing the loss to Whyte on the grounds of an illegal blow.
"We've taken stock and decided to take high ground," Higgins said.
"We're pleased we made some noise. Frankly, it was a disgrace."
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