JOSEPH PARKER’S mum still cannot believe her son’s success — because he was not even the best boxer in the family.
The WBO heavyweight champion takes on Anthony Joshua, the WBA and IBF king, in a massive unification clash at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium tomorrow night.
Ringside in the Welsh capital will be Parker’s adoring parents, who have watched him turn from a chubby wannabe into one of New Zealand’s biggest stars.
But if mum Sala had got her way, Parker might have only headed to Britain to compete in Wimbledon, not to serve up punishment.
Joseph and his younger brother John both started boxing as kids and were initially trained by dad Dempsey in their back garden in Auckland.
But Sala did her best to turn them away from violence and onto something else.
She told SunSport: “They were only doing it for a bit of self-defence.
“Actually I tried as best I could to steer them away from fighting — I tried to get them into tennis but Joe wasn’t having that.
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“So then I tried all sorts of other things like volleyball and both codes of rugby but at 16 he had to make the choice.
“Of course he stuck with boxing but it came as a surprise how good he got because we actually thought John would be the better of the two.
“But Joe had that focus and work ethic from the start.”
Those attributes have propelled Parker to 24 straight wins as a pro and the WBO heavyweight crown.
But although he is more than capable of mixing it in the ring, Parker still struggles with the verbal sparring.
But whenever he does get drawn into a war of words, his mum gets a phone call almost immediately.
She said: “The trash-talking is not something he likes.
“He will phone me straight away and say ‘mum, just to warn you, I said a few things you won’t like and you might see it on the news soon!’”
Parker and his family are devout Mormons who attend church every week – and the heavyweight champion says his faith is to thank for his success.
In fact, he would never have even started boxing had it not been for God.
Dad Dempsey, who is named after the legendary former heavyweight champion Jack, explained: “At first I took them to karate and not boxing.
“But then I saw that in karate they made the kids bow all the time. I did not like that — you should bow only to God, so we stopped karate and started boxing.
“I trained them in the garden at first but when he got a little bit older he joined a proper club because I was not licensed.
“If it wasn’t for the bowing, who knows? They may have stuck with karate.
“But we are so proud of what he has become.”
Both Sala and Dempsey are from huge Samoan families, boasting over 50 brother s and sisters between them. This week the country declared an entire day of prayer for national hero Parker.
As he does before each of his son’s contests, Dempsey has fasted for 24 hours in preparation, while the family will pray together tonight for the final time before the fight.
It has been suggested that the polite and humble Parker, who says he prays for the world every Sunday, is too nice for the hardest game of all.
But Dempsey said: “There is no such thing. We have raised him to be like this but when the bell goes he flicks a switch and that is an art. Once he is finished he is back to Joe again.”
John, three years Joe’s junior at 23, has followed his big brother into the professional ranks as a cruiserweight and is currently 3-0.
He is part of Parker’s entourage here in Cardiff, although the champion’s pregnant partner Laine will not be in attendance as she is back in Auckland.
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Their second baby is due in June so her and their daughter Elizabeth will tune in at home early on Sunday morning.
Dad Dempsey says the birth of Elizabeth in November 2016 made his eldest boy grow into a man.
He said: “When she arrived it matured his mind.
He used to like going out with the boys and I didn’t blame him for that.
“But since she was born he has grown up. And with another one on the way he really knows what he is fighting for now.”
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