Kiwi hope Joseph Parker has ruled out ever challenging pal Tyson Fury for a world heavyweight crown.
The former WBO beltholder has reignited his waning career with a demolition of British rival Dereck Chisora in December and has now set his sights on a path back to the division's top echelon.
After a series of underwhelming performances, Parker's title aspirations have found renewed credibility, since dropping longtime mentor Kevin Barry and relocating to England, where he's based at Morcambe with new trainer Andy Lee.
But Parker, 30, has assured Talk Sport he will never enter the ring against his new best friend - WBC champion Fury.
"We have a great relationship," says Parker. "He treats me like a younger brother, his whole family looks after me.
"I've based myself here in Morecambe now. I've stayed in his house, I'm using his gym - I think I'll never fight him.
"I'll let him do his thing and fight everyone else. I'll try to go another path and do my best to win the other belts, if I can."
After earlier holding the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles, Fury surrendered his belts, as he battled mental health issues, but returned to defeat American Deontay Wilder for the WBC crown in 2020.
Plans for a unification bout with fellow Brit Anthony Joshua were derailed, when Joshua fell to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk last September, so while Fury awaits the outcome of a rematch, he must negotiate a match with mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte.
If that doesn't eventuate, promoter Bob Arum has named Parker - ranked No.3 with the World Boxing Council - among a list of others that could fill the void, but the Kiwi denies that would ever happen.
That means his shot at a title must go through Usyk or Joshua, who took the WBC crown off him in 2018.
Parker has been offered a chance to face unbeaten Croatian Filip Hrgovic in an IBF eliminator bout, but turned it down on monetary grounds.
"I'm back into training, back into training camp with Tyson," he tells Talk Sport. "We've got Sonny Bill Williams here, doing some training for his fight, David Nyika back on board.
"It's great to be back training."
