British slugger Anthony Joshua has leapt to his own defence regarding allegations from Team Parker that he's vulnerable to being knocked out, labelling it nothing but "fake news."
Both camps met for the first time at a press conference overnight (NZT) in London, where the British three-promotion champion wasted no time in interrupting Duco boss David Higgins upon first mention of his supposed "glass chin."
"In terms of using it as a PR stunt, the rumours you have heard, they're fake news," said a fired-up Joshua.
"So PR, whatever you want to use it for, that's between you and your camp."
Parker's promoters have been vocal regarding Joshua's history of knockdowns in both training camps and amateur fights, believing they've found a clear weakness in the hulking heavyweight ahead of their title unification bout in Cardiff in April (NZT).
The 28-year-old continued with a detailed description of each of the three occasions he'd been floored.
"The first was the European Championships, when only two weeks before I had called back into the programme, because I was banned from the British team. I was very unfit but I got stopped, not dropped.
"The second time was with David Price, when I had just come out a police cell. Price is a puncher and that was down to a lack of experience.
"And Klitschko taught me that it will take more than a human to stop me from going where I am going. The rumours the Parker camp have heard are all fake news."
Higgins held firm to his claims, warning Joshua that his fighter stood an undeniable chance of an upset win and defending him against a dismissive British media.
"A lot of the English see it as a one-horse race, they write Joseph Parker off. The bookies write him off, right. But I think experienced boxing people will go hang on a minute, Joseph probably is a bit quicker on hand speed, definitely got a better chin and I would add mentally tougher," said Higgins.
"What I'm saying is this is a 50:50 fight…. the fight is a lot closer than what people think."
Parker himself was subdued throughout proceedings, simply echoing his promoter's sentiments.
"I have watched Joshua for a long time. I know his strengths, he knows mine. I know his weaknesses, he thinks he knows mine. And I'm hoping to catch him on the chin and knock him out," the WBO champion calmly stated.
No further mention was made of the South Aucklander's suggestions earlier in the week that his opponent is the "King of steroids".
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