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Watch: 'You can't let your bum deceive you' – Eddie Hearn takes David Higgins to task

January 17, 2018

Joseph Parker's promoter was asked to repeat comments to Anthony Joshua's face that he was "mentally weak".

It was the two rival fight promoters who were slinging the most spiteful verbal jabs of this morning's Joseph Parker v Anthony Joshua heavyweight bout press conference in London. 

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn took Parker's David Higgins to task over his recent comments Joshua was both "mentally weak" and had a "glass jaw".

And in Hearn's eyes, Higgins was backing away from his strong words of recent weeks.

"You can't say what you've been saying, and then when you're five feet from him, you can't let you're bum deceive you," Hearn said.

"You said 'he [Joshua] has mental weaknesses', you said 'he is mentally weak'."

Responding to the grilling, Higgins was willing to give a concession on his harsh assessment of Joshua's strength and composure.

"Anthony Joshua is mentally weaker than Joseph Parker," Higgins said.

But Hearn was having none of it.

"You don't do what he [Joshua] is doing and be mentally weak, you don't walk out in front of your home city and win gold at the Olympics," Hearn said.

"You also said 'he has a glass chin, we're going to break his glass chin', don't tell me, tell him, he's here."

Higgins again clarified what he had said.

"OK look I'll give you a small concession. He's mentally tougher than most people, but he's mentally weaker than Joseph Parker," Higgins said.

"In terms of chin, he's got a better chin than me, but not as good as Joseph Parker's."

Amid the squabbling from the promoters, the two heavyweight champs, remained calm and respectful for the most part.

Parker said he has been studying Joshua as a future rival for years, after watching him fight at an amateur event.

And Joshua was forthcoming in admitting what Parker had achieved so far in his career was "phenominal, it's history, it's groundbreaking".

The two world champs will meet on April 1 (NZT) in Cardiff, Wales, for the first heavyweight boxing unification bout in seven years.   

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