Joseph Parker

Parker took a short break from his preparation on Friday, to spar with Luna Rossa co-helmsman Jimmy Spithill, to help promote the fight.

There was no clear winner in that contest, but the 29-year-old is looking for a definitive result when he takes on Fa at Spark Arena.

Parker is the red hot favourite to win the fight and says he’s expecting Fa to hit the canvas at some point.

Parker returns to the ring against Junior Fa on February 27, at Auckland's Spark Arena - his first fight in 367 days - with his eyes firmly planted on 2021 bringing him back to the top of the heavyweight mountain.

Parker came up short against WBC, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a unification bout back in 2018, and hasn't fought a top ten fighter since July of the same year when he went the distance with Dillian Whyte in a slugfest.

Originally scheduled for December 12 in Auckland, the fight had been postponed until February 27 after Fa needed surgery for an undisclosed medical issue.

In addition to that, Parker revealed on Tuesday he had undergone surgery on both elbows for the second time earlier this month.

While admitting he was still recovering from the procedures, the former WBO world champion was adamant he had made a good decision.

"They should have taken me on [on the original date] because I was training with injuries," Parker said.

Previously scheduled for December, the bout was postponed after blood tests revealed Fa was suffering from a health issue that required the highly-rated, undefeated prospect to undergo surgery.

February’s fight will again be staged at Auckland’s Spark Arena.

The official event doctor appointed for the Parker v Fa fight night, Dave Renata, confirmed Fa’s recent surgery had been successful.

“Junior’s surgery was a success and he is well and truly on track to be fully fit and in very good health for the rescheduled date on February 27,” Renata said.

While Parker, ranked third in the WBO, is preparing for his rescheduled bout against fellow Kiwi Junior Fa, his manager David Higgins has one eye on a future title clash with Oleksandr Usyk. And their hopes were given a boost last weekend when the No 2-ranked Daniel Dubois suffered a knockout loss to Joe Joyce.

Usyk is the WBO's mandatory challenger and any potential bout against Parker would depend on Joshua defending his WBO, IBF and WBA titles against Kubrat Pulev on December 12, and then vacating the WBO strap.

The original fight was due to be held on December 12th but was postponed last week because of an illness to Fa that will see him undergo surgey tomorrow.

Fa though expects to be back into full time training by early January although he won't reveal what the medical issue is.

But New Zealand-Samoan boxer, Joseph Parker, is doing what needs to be done to prepare for his heavy-weight boxing showdown against Junior Fa next month.

The two New Zealand-based rivals have a long-standing history. They've had two wins each at amateur level, both hail from South Auckland, have Pasifika heritage, and are affiliated to the same church.

But their training camps couldn't look much different.

Fa is doing his preparation work in Mt Eden.

Parker is training on the opposite side of the biggest Polynesian city in the world, Auckland.

The Samoan and Tongan New Zealanders are all square at two wins a piece from their previous four meetings as amateurs, and they have plenty to fight for.

Junior Fa is all set for what's been billed as the 'Fight of the Century', but there's one person who will be missing from his corner - his dad and secondary trainer, Uaine Fa - who passed away due to cancer last year.

A Tongan-born amateur boxer in his youth and the biggest influence in Junior's career, Uaine Fa was the man resposible for his son's boxing career.

With a date clash with the All Blacks now ruled out - today it was announced the fight had been pushed back a day to Saturday, 12 December.

While 24 hours isn't much, every day is particularly important for Parker - with longtime trainer Kevin Barry just one week out of quarantine having arrived from America.

Up until a week ago, Parker and Barry had spent eight months apart.

Not the ideal scenario as Parker prepared for a high-stakes clash with countryman and amateur rival Fa.

A disciplined Parker has kept himself in beast mode during a frustrating seven months since Covid-19 stalled what was a promising start to a year when he had such huge plans to make up for what was a disappointing 2019 as injury hit him.

Now the stars have aligned for a Kiwi superfight against his old amateur rival Junior Fa in Auckland on December 11 and Barry, in hotel lockdown for two weeks since arriving from Las Vegas, knows Parker is physically ready to dominate the man put in front of him.