Higgins: "We expect the opposition to again behave like dogs, all we want is a fair fight with fair terms."
Thursday 7 November 2019 13:35, UK
Joseph Parker has finally received a formal offer to fight Derek Chisora and will accept the terms despite "frustrating communication" between the involved parties, revealed manager David Higgins.
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The offer sees Parker, who would have to settle for being the B-side on his fourth visit to the UK, face-off against Chisora in London this October.
We have tried to be polite behind the scenes but it's been difficult.
Higgins admits his patience has been severely tested in stop-start talks with Eddie Hearn and David Haye, but Parker is now heading to Las Vegas to start his training camp.
"It's pretty close to being done," the New Zealander's manager exclusively told Sky Sports. "It's been talked about for months and we finally received an offer yesterday which we will accept. The email we received is for October in London and we will take it.
"We haven't been told if we're the main event or not, only that Parker is the B-side despite being part of one of the biggest PPV's in UK history and then having another huge fight against Dillian Whyte.
"It has been hard to get a deal done, Haye and Hearn talked a good game but they've simply left us waiting. We wanted the fight in April but we ran out of time, Joe wouldn't have been able to have a proper training camp. We have tried to be polite behind the scenes but it's been difficult.
"I do like Haye and Hearn, but they're very wealthy British toffs, communication has been very poor on their part. For the AJ-Parker fight, Hearn was returning my calls straight away, but for this, I've been ignored for the most part."
Higgins admits that all three of Parker's previous visits to the UK have been problematic and, although hopeful of a fair fight against Chisora, he expects "the opposition to behave like dogs."
He also revealed that a knockout win over the Londoner puts Parker in pole position for the winner of Andy Ruiz Jr's rematch against Anthony Joshua.
"We've been in the UK on three occasions now, we had a big disagreement over the referee when fighting Hughie Fury, then against Anthony Joshua, the ref was on their team, he would never let Joe get up close and protected 'AJ' throughout.
"Last year against Whyte, Joe received a concussive headbutt which was somehow called a knockdown. If that's called correctly, the fight ends in a draw. Of course, we expect the opposition to again behave like dogs, all we want is a fair fight with fair terms.
"If I'm a conspiracy theorist, Chisora's team are trying to get an advantage, they want him to be the A-side, but we think Parker, who has the better win record, deserves it. He's also now a Matchroom Boxing fighter. If it's Chisora-Parker or Parker-Chisora, we really don't care.
"Should he knock Chisora out in London, we're in pole position for the winner of Ruiz Jr-Joshua, we would happily fight on that undercard in Saudi Arabia as well and then face the winner. I have to give Hearn credit for making that one, it's going to be a historic event."
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