His victory over Carlos Takam in May sent Joseph Parker to the upper echelons of the heavyweight division, and in a roundabout way set up his title fight against Andy Ruiz Jr, but the Kiwi has delivered a scathing assessment of his performance that night, saying it was "rubbish".
Parker has already spoken of his injury problems heading into that fight in Manukau which he won by unanimous decision to claim the IBF mandatory challenger position.
He felt the 12-week camp was too long and there were over-training issues which manifested themselves in a back and left elbow injury. He appeared flat during many of the 12 rounds, and although he deserved the decision, it wasn't the statement performance he was looking for.
His most recent victory over Alexander Dimitrenko in October, a third-round TKO, was more representative of where he is at, Parker said. And a key aspect to his build-up for the WBO title fight against Ruiz Jr at Vector Arena is the fact that the Mexican and his camp appear to be basing their assessment of Parker's ability solely on the Takam fight.
Trainer Kevin Barry recently called it a "6.5 out of 10" performance, and Parker added: "I agree with him. When I look back at the fight I wasn't really impressed with my performance. It was good getting the victory because of what it meant to getting the mandatory position. But looking back, and I watched the fight twice, I felt like it was rubbish.