Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker made no secret of the fact that he wanted his WBO title bout against Andy Ruiz to take place in his hometown of Auckland, and he admits his pestering has paid dividends.
Promoters Duco confirmed on Tuesday that they had managed to collate enough sponsorship to prevent the event being relocated to the United States following a failed bid for public funding.
The 24-year-old told the The Rock FM on Wednesday morning that he wasn't shy in expressing his strong desire to keep the title fight on New Zealand soil during a prolonged period of negotiation.
"Throughout the whole process I kept asking my team 'please, do everything you can to hold it in Auckland', so I need to thank them and my sponsors because without them this fight probably would've been in the States," said Parker.
"We were ready for wherever the fight was going to be, but I'm just glad it's going to be in Auckland."
It won’t be the first time Parker has shared a ring with his opponent Ruiz, having previously sparred with the Mexican at a training camp a few years ago in Las Vegas.
Parker isn't too proud to admit that Ruiz had his fair share of success against him, including one notable session where the portly slugger had him dazed to the point where he was unable to eat for three days.
"He knows he got me, and I know that on the third or fourth session that we sparred that I got him back.
"We have a lot of respect for each other, but we know what's going to happen on fight night.
Parker has bought in a handful of shorter fighters into camp to facilitate the adjustment from the towering Alexander Dimitrenko, but at 1.93m, the South Aucklander is already well versed in fighting smaller opponents.
With the fight less than a month away, the prospect of entering the ring under the eyes of a sold-out Vector Arena has proved impossible to ignore for the young pugilist.
"I'm buzzing just thinking about walking out, there's going to be so many New Zealanders supporting me."
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