WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has previously spoken out about the one advantage Joseph Parker will have against Anthony Joshua, and surprisingly the Brit's promoter Eddie Hearn agrees with his assessment.
In an interview earlier this month on RadioLIVE's Sunday Sport, Wilder said that Joshua's chiselled physique could be a downfall in the ring, stating he'd "rather be the part then look the part".
Speaking to Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes last weekend, Hearn agreed with the American about Joshua's one fault.
"I think Deontay probably has a point in that if there's one weakness of Anthony," Hearn told RadioLIVE.
"He's [Joshua] shown in a couple of his fights in his career where he has emptied his tank at certain moments but has also recovered very quickly.
"Those being in the third round against Dillon Whyte, and the fifth round against Klitschko, where he over-celebrated a knockdown, probably threw over 100 punches in a combo, and emptied his tank.
"That was inexperience. That was work-rate, the fact he was carrying too much weight, nervous energy, everything. It's all things you learn from.
"What he did do was he came back like a lion and stopped Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round. Against [Carlos] Takam he went 10 rounds with a busted nose and wasn't really even breathing."
The 26-year-old Parker will face Joshua in Cardiff in a unification bout for Parker's WBO title, and the Brit's IBF and WBA crowns on April 1 (NZ time).
Wilder's comments led to Parker questioning Joshua's fitness in the ring after appearing to be sluggish and fatigued during his two previous bouts against Klitschko and Takam.
With Joshua having won all of his fights by knockout, he's yet to complete a full 12 rounds in the ring. In contrast, Parker has gone 12 rounds in all three of his previous three fights against Andy Ruiz Jr, Razvan Cojanu and Hughie Fury.
Even though Hearn isn't expecting the bout to go the distance, he does praise Parker for showing the ability to last 34 gruelling minutes in the ring.
"I do give credit and I think Parker may have shown more fitness over a 12-round period, especially with Anthony not even doing 12 rounds.
"They fight in very different ways, Joshua is an explosive fighter, and Parker is not or hasn’t shown to be an explosive fighter in his last few fights.
"He's actually shown to be a little bit incumbent and lethargic in his approach, particularly against Fury because that was more out of frustration than anything, else so I'm expecting a different Joseph Parker in this fight."
Despite all that, Hearn is expecting a much more aggressive Parker in the ring with so much at stake.
"We are expecting an explosive Joseph Parker. If it's the same Joseph Parker that boxed Hughie Fury or Cojanu, he cannot win this fight, but we know he's better than that.
"Joseph Parker has the ability to hurt Anthony Joshua and Anthony Joshua has the ability to put Joseph Parker to sleep, and both of those outcomes are possible in his fight.
"Over 12 rounds with Joseph Parker, it's likely he's going to get hit, and he's going to get hit hard and fast, so he has to be smart in this fight, he's much lighter already than he was in his previous fight, I think people are going to get surprised when he jumps on the scales, I think he's built for speed in this fight and you're going to see a more clinical performance, but the thing is with Anthony when he gets in there, he feels the energy and he sees the blood, he goes for it.
"This is what these guys live for, this is what they've dreamt about so you know everything they've got in their heart and soul; they will give on March 31"
Newshub.
