Joseph Parker

Trainer Kevin Barry says the WBO Heavyweight Boxing champion has been nursing pain and restriction in both his elbows for more than two years.

In November 2017, the team elected to have one of New Zealand's best orthopaedic surgeons Craig Ball, to correct the injuries.

The announcement was made on the eve of Parker's unification bout with Anthony Joshua in Cardiff.

"We're pretty transparent, we've got nothing to hide, especially given it was so damn successful," Parker's promoter David Higgins said.

English superstar Joshua is a healthy favourite to prevail when he meets New Zealand fighter Parker in their world heavyweight title unification bout in Cardiff on Easter Sunday (NZ time).

Many believe the WBA and IBF champion will be too powerful for the WBO belt holder from South Auckland, referencing the fact all 20 wins on Joshua's perfect professional record have come via knockout.

Quartarone has refereed a world heavyweight title fight before, being in charge of Alexander Povetkin's WBA title victory over Cedric Boswell in 2011.

"We're very happy with the officials that have been appointed," Barry told Sky Sports.

"We've got three judges - one from New Zealand, one from the UK, one from the United States.

"We've got an Italian referee. We signed off on those officials [at the beginning of March]. We're very happy with what the various sanctioning bodies have appointed for us."

WBO champion Parker fights IBF and WBA champion Anthony Joshua in Cardiff on April 1 (NZT).

A week earlier, on March 25, the Samoan nation will concentrate their thoughts and prayers on Parker whose parents were born in the island nation.

It continues Samoa's strong support for Parker.

The Samoan government gave financial assistance for Parker's successful world title bid against Andy Ruiz in Auckland in late 2016 and again for his first defence against Razvan Cojanu last year.

Already a father to 16-month-old daughter Elizabeth, Parker has revealed he and partner Laine are expecting a second child.

With his much-anticipated clash against British superstar Joshua in Cardiff a little more than two weeks away, the WBO champion from south Auckland believed the impending arrival is just another reminder of what he is fighting for.

The advert for the pay-per-view of his title unification bout with Briton Anthony Joshua blends pictures of both fighters with classic New Zealand landscapes and a Maori chief, while using digital imaging to transpose Tā moko to Parker's face.

"Devastating forces shake the earth beneath our feet," says the narrator in a dramatic monologue.

"Frightening. No chance of retreat. Two beasts so ferocious they cannot be caged.

"Worlds apart, choose a side. Prepare yourself for forces to collide."

While much of the pre-fight hype has surrounded Joshua's power, it’s Parker's speed that has his boxing trainer confident of a knock-out win.

Speaking to Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on RadioLIVE, Barry revealed fans should expect a much faster, but no less powerful, Parker in Wales.

"More movement and faster feet…that’s something that we’ve worked on this whole training camp from our flexibility work to our strength and conditioning work, boxing work to our road work," said Barry.

Between them the three fighters own the four major belts in the sport's glamour division, with Joshua holding the WBA and IBF crowns, Parker the WBO and Wilder the WBC.

With 20 knockouts from a perfect 20-0 professional record, Joshua is favoured to continue that march and add another belt to his collection when he and Parker square off in a much-anticipated unification bout in Cardiff on April 1 (NZ time).

The Kiwi heavyweight has used the cruel jibe from British talk show host Graham Norton and picked up by Joshua as motivation for his preparations for their world heavyweight unification fight.

WBO champion Parker tangles with WBA and IBF champion Joshua in Cardiff on April 1 (NZT) and the 26-eyar-old is determined to be in the shape of his life.

Five weeks into his Las Vegas training camp, the signs are promising with Parker quickly losing weight and regaining his trademark speed.

Parker is set to face his toughest opponent yet when he fights English boxer Anthony Joshua in Cardiff, Wales on March 31 (April 1 NZT).

Barry says there'll be no excuses for losing against Joshua.

 “We think there’s never been a greater time to fight Anthony Joshua and if we don’t win this fight on March 31, it’ll be because Joe’s simply not good enough."

“We think this is the right time and the right guy at the right time.”

Parker agrees and admits 2017 wasn't the best year in boxing for him.