Despite plenty of respect being shown between the pair in the build-up to their heavyweight bout, Joseph Parker and Junior Fa showed how serious they both are about winning tomorrow night.
Parker and Fa squared off in an intense staredown today ahead of tomorrow’s fight at Spark Arena in Auckland after weighing in for the contest.
Fa weighed in at 118.1kg; almost 10kg heavier than Parker.
It means Fa will enter the ring with a trifecta of advantages in weight, height and reach but it’s his confidence giving him the biggest boost, Fa said.
“The training is done, the talking is done, I’m ready to go tomorrow night,” Fa said.
“Tomorrow night will basically be our fifth time stepping into the ring together and I’ve taken things away that we learned from each other previously.
“Me and my team have put together a great gameplan that we plan to go out there with and do the job tomorrow night.”
Parker was just as confident after the weigh in.
“I’ve had a tremendous camp here in New Zealand,” Parker said.
“A lot has been said and now it’s just time to get to work tomorrow.”
After their short interviews, the pair came together for their staredown, where Fa mouthed a few words to the former world champion but Parker remained silent throughout.
Neither revealed what was said afterwards.
Among the undercard bouts, two-time Commonwealth Games champion David Nyika weighed in at 90.4kg for his professional debut against cruiserweight Jesse Maio, who came in at 85.7kg.
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